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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27383392">In Sickness and in Health</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CameronFoss/pseuds/CameronFoss'>CameronFoss</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Love of Monsters [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Bad Parenting, Disease, Episode: s02e08 Medusa, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Illness, Multi, Sickness, director sanvers, hopefully?, no gays die, no one dies at all!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:54:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,318</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27383392</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CameronFoss/pseuds/CameronFoss</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Loosely based off the Medusa Episode. Fits between chapters 2 and 3 of Blood and Water (was originally a deleted scene). Therefore, Alex is still a DEO Agent, Jeremiah is alive, there are Exodus crew in the DEO and L-Corp, Eliza is around but still... pissed about the whole Jeremiah being a target thing. </p><p>Less coherent than my ordinary stuff, but here we are!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Danvers &amp; Kara Danvers, Alex Danvers/Lucy Lane, Alex Danvers/Lucy Lane/Maggie Sawyer, Alex Danvers/Maggie Sawyer, Kara Danvers &amp; Lucy Lane, Kara Danvers &amp; Maggie Sawyer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Love of Monsters [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1931620</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>282</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>178</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Warning: I'm writing from New Zealand, which has been incredibly privileged in the context of Covid. I am aware that this might touch on some of those feelings, and if you feel that anything illness related might trigger you, please consider that before continuing.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The crowded bar was always a welcome feeling – even if she couldn’t drink there. Something about it being the space where she and Maggie started, being the space where J’onn and Kara could be open, being the place where Lucy once dragged her into a single stall bathroom and had her way with her – made it a safe space.</p><p>And now, it was a safe space for her other family.</p><p>“Yo! Cap,” Zeek’s grin was contagious – ears pulling back so far they almost disappeared into his shaggy hair. He pulled out a chair as she limped up to the bar. “What happened to you?”</p><p> She grunted, waving a hand for her regular. “Drew sucks.”</p><p>“Ah, they kicked your ass in sparing, huh?” He guessed (correctly), throwing down some bills for her drink, winking at the human waitress as she left. He made <em>very</em> sure not to inappropriately watch her walk away with Alex around – he liked his ass <em>unkicked</em> thank you.</p><p>“They cheated, is what they did,” she muttered, hooking her unbandaged leg around the stool to drag it closer to the bar. “Doesn’t matter – how are you doing dude? Haven’t heard from you in a while – was surprised to get your message.”</p><p>“Oh,” he shrugged, spinning the base of her glass. “Just working down at the foundry – shitty money but easy enough.”</p><p>She turned her body to face him, tapping at his knee, leaning her head on an elbow on the counter. “You know the offers always open; I can help you find something else.”</p><p>“Thanks, but I don’t wanna work for your girlfriend, or your sister’s girlfriend,” Zeek smirked back. “And anyway – it’s nice, ya know? Just… going to work and not having to save lives or solve the world’s problems and shit?”</p><p>“I really, <em>really</em> get it,” she took a sip, thinking about her conversion with J’onn, with Lucy and Maggie – about her future at the DEO. Or… her lack of future at the DEO, and how that made the pressure in her chest lift, just a notch. “But my doors always open, alright? We can always find you something less intense, if that’s what you need.”</p><p>He laughed good naturedly, knocking back the last of his drink but not signaling for another – not with Alex. “What I <em>need</em> is to just grab a drink with my Captain every once and a while.”</p><p>Her smile softened. Leaning over, she patted the side of his face, leaving her hand there and ducking her head. His ears twitched at the affection. “You don’t need an excuse to spend time with me Ze – my door is always open.”</p><p>“I know,” he ducked his head, wrinkling his nose. “Just harder now, ya know? Since moving from Parthas and the crew all scattering and stuff, it’s starting to feel…”</p><p>She tilted her head, dropping her hand away but staying close. “Lonely?”</p><p>He pressed his lips together, but nodded, turning to face the bar properly.</p><p>“I know it’s not the same,” she started, turning her body towards the bar too, but keeping her eyes on her friend. “’Cause I had people waiting for me, but I get feeling lonely, since getting back. I certainly don’t feel adjusted yet, even after eighteen months.”</p><p>Zeek sighed, staring into his empty glass. “It’s just weird, ya know?” He titled his head to look at his friend – his leader – his mentor. “Going from seeing you guys every day to… not at all.”</p><p>Alex bit the inside of her lip, thinking about that same… weirdness. The shift from one life into another, after four years of adjusting and learning and <em>settling</em>. She would never trade her life on Earth for her life in space back – but there were parts of the Exodus that she missed. Her <em>other</em> family being key among them.</p><p>“Well,” she started, thinking about the Parthas and the Exodus and how it hadn’t had a chance for a good run in a while. “Maybe we should try get together more often, ya know. As a group? Most the guys that stayed through the end ended up in National City, but almost all the 90 stayed with Bré – we could take a ride over.” <em>A family reunion</em>.</p><p>“Hey, Cap, you know I woulda stayed on if I hadn’t been injured, right?” Suddenly wide eyes were set on her, thinking about being the <em>90</em>and how the intimate crew that stayed aboard somehow felt… special. Better. More loyal. “Like… I know- I know you told me to get on the jump, but like, I <em>wanted</em> to stay with you guys. Even though I don’t wanna work with the DEO or nothin’.”</p><p>“Yeah Ze,” she rested her chin against her shoulder, smiling at the nervous man. More boy really – he’d only been 19 when they took off. He was barely a man now but growing into himself every day. “I know. You’re good.”</p><p>Pride. That’s what welled in her chest. <em>Pride</em>.</p><p>He’d come a long way from the guy that stole her rations and tried to lie about it around the crumbs of evidnce.</p><p>“Okay good then,” he nodded, once sure. “But yeah, a reunion sounds good! I know…“ he trailed off, eyes flicking away from her, to someone sitting further down the bar. “Yo, Cap. Check out your six – guy in the big coat.”</p><p>Alex turned to look more fully at Zeek but let her eyes drift beyond, to the far wall – the bank of glass which lined the pool tables created a mirror, giving her a good view of the guy. Zeek always had good instincts, a result of living on the streets. There was a reason why she had him on her ground crew, despite his age.</p><p>“Good eye,” she muttered, watching as the man in question suddenly got up, slouching further to hide his face as he walked. Something was… off.</p><p>She stood, and immediately winced, dropping back onto the stood with a wince. “Fuck, okay. Never mind.” <em>She was going to kill Drew.</em></p><p>Zeek half laughed, already off his seat. “I’ll just shadow him a bit, make sure he’s on the up and up. Stay down you cripple.”</p><p>“Hey, be careful!” She called, watching Zeek step into a jog to catch up with the man already out of the bar. “Fucking kids thinking they can just run into danger like some kind of-“</p><p>And then the coughing started.</p><p>It took Alex’s eyes a second to see what was happening. What was wrong.</p><p>Fog was filling the room. Orange and thick and acid on her tongue.</p><p>The alien two stools over from Zeek’s empty seat collapsed, crashing to the floor violently. Leg injury or no, Alex was on her feet, two steps over to him when the screaming started, drowning out the coughing and wheezing.</p><p><em>Aliens</em>. She looked around, gripping the corner of the bar – the human waitress who’d served them dropped her tray, scrambling away from a stumbling Firunte. <em>It’s just the aliens</em>.</p><p>Taking a sharp breath, she reached out to catch a falling Valarian – but then the fog coated her lungs. Still thick – dense like liquid – but now she could feel it. Could feel her heart rate increase, could feel her lungs contract as it entered her system.</p><p><em>Revised observation</em>, her brain unhelpfully produced as her knee’s gave out under her. She slammed hard enough into the ground to bruise. <em>Just aliens and <strong>me</strong>.</em></p><p>Because it was affecting her – for every second she remained drowning in the fog, her breathing became more labored. It felt like she was sucking air through a straw. Her vision was blurring but she could see her hands were shaking.</p><p>A violent cough ripped through her, and she lurched forward, catching herself on her bad hand. It took whole seconds for her lungs to stop contracting – chest protesting through the sharp burn. Through blurred eyes she noted that there was blood splattered on her hand, on the floor– right next to the Firunte lying dead.</p><p>The fog had cleared, but it was too late. It was in her bloodstream – whatever happened had already happened. She coughed again, hacking so hard it felt like she would tear her throat open. She collapsed completely now, dropping hard to the sticky bar floor, eyes locked on the dead alien inches from her</p><p>The last thing she saw before the seizure ripped through her was Zeek – frantic,  sliding to the floor beside her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Agent Schott!” The volume of Lucy’s voice had the spinny chair under his hand slipping away. The absolute only reason he remained upright was the giggling Ella catching his arm. “If you’re done trying to flirt with my tech commander, do you think you could manage to actually do your job?”</p><p>“Aw, come’on, Director,” El smirked, releasing Winn now that he had two feet under him and a flush spreading down his neck. “He’s got more game then you give him credit for.”</p><p>Lucy raised an eyebrow, looking between his fidgety eyes and blush to her grin and nose wrinkle.</p><p>“Plus, you know, <em>technically</em>, when J’onn steps down, we’re <em>both</em> gonna be your tech commanders. So, like – there’s that,” Winn stuttered out, scratching at the back of his head.</p><p>Lucy took a single step forward.</p><p>“But yeah! Yeah, I can do my job. Of course. I’m like, very much on it,” and he skirted around her form, and Dryls behind her, before shuffling over to his console.</p><p>Ella leaned back on the desk, grinning at her boss. “You’re mean.”</p><p>“You’re fired.”</p><p>The startled laugh which broke from El had Lucy fighting a smile. “Yeah right – you <em>need me</em> now that Vas is going up the ladder.”</p><p>“I have other options.”</p><p>“None as good as me,” which was true, but Lucy was never going to tell her that.</p><p>“I am, in fact, better.” Dryl intoned, stepping forward with hands linked behind his back.</p><p>“Yeah, but you’re a pain in the ass.”</p><p>“So are you,” Lucy countered, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>“Yeah, but I’m cute when I do it,” and she <em>winked</em>.</p><p><em>Fuck</em> these stupid aliens are gonna be the death of her – her father would be so smug. </p><p>Rolling her eyes, Lucy turned to Dryl. “Do you have the schematics ready?”</p><p>“Of course,” Dryl responded to his… his ex-captain-sometimes-lab-partner’s, paramour, who he sometimes collaborates with as an associate of L-Corp. There – much clearer. “If Ella manages to follow my design-“</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>“-it should be up and running by the end of the week,” which is good. Because the project that Lena delayed for this was <em>much </em>more theoretically interesting.</p><p>“Good,” she hummed, mind running through the various legal loopholes it would take to keep the patents out of the public records for a while. “I’ve had you set up in one of the mech labs, but if you’ll have access to almost anything you need.”</p><p>“I require a-“</p><p>And nothing.</p><p>Lucy glanced over at the strange alien her partner spent two days a week geeking out with. Normally stiff, always difficult, eternally sure of himself.</p><p>But right now, he looked confused.</p><p>And then he looked like he was in pain.</p><p>His dark skin was lined with protruding ridges, making it look hard and dense, but he had pretty good range of expression when he bothered to show emotion. Right now, his eyes where pinched, skin on his forehead pulling.</p><p>Then his breathing stuttered.</p><p>“Dryl?”</p><p>Ella stepped away from the desk.</p><p>“Something is-“ and then he was coughing – violently. His whole body shuddered forward, forcing him to grab the console and brace a forearm on the tech. Lucy’d never seen him show such disregard for technology.</p><p>“Dryl?” Ella this time, coming up behind her friend, careful not to touch without his explicit consent.</p><p>The coughing only gave way to harsh, wet breathing – his back heaving with the effort to get oxygen through his throat.</p><p>Lucy turned to Winn. “Get a medic down here. Now.”</p><p>Wide eyed, Winn grabbed the landline – right as another coughing fit forced Dryl to his knees, shoulder slamming against the concrete base of the console.</p><p>It was only then that Lucy saw the blood splattered across the computer – spots of green smeared where he’d slid his own hand through.</p><p>Abandoning professionalism, Lucy crouched in front of him, sharing a look with the startled El. “Dryl, help is coming. Just try breath, okay?”</p><p>Because, while Lucy may not <em>get it</em>, but he and Alex were close. It takes a certain kind of relationship to let someone mess with your biology and maintain your prosthetic – especially for someone like Alex.</p><p>When the coughing finally gave way, chest heaving, he looked up at the Director with squinted eyes. He took one, deliberate slow breath and forced words from his mouth – “Not. Me.”</p><p>Lucy frowned. “Not you?”</p><p>“Not. M-“ And then another coughing fit, hunching his form further. Ella, behind him, look at her boss with wide, equally confused eyes.</p><p>“Lucy!” Winn now, voice on the edge of frantic.</p><p>She couldn’t take her eyes of the man before her, who seemed to be dying for absolutely no reason on a regular Thursday afternoon. On her watch.</p><p>Jesus, J’onn hadn’t even officially stepped down yet, and people were just <em>dying</em>.</p><p>“Lucy!”</p><p>“What!?” She didn’t even stand up, just watched another round of violent, sticky coughing dragged itself from Dryl’s throat.</p><p>The medics hit the last stair from the infirmary.</p><p>“NCPD received, just, a bunch of 911 calls about some kind of alien chemical attack at the bar!”</p><p>Her phone started to vibrate – Maggie. Liaising.</p><p>But her mind was caught on her voicemail. The message she’d received earlier.   </p><p><em>“Hey Luce – just letting you know I’m sending Dryl alone – sorry in advance. I just have to meet up with a friend at the bar. I’ll be home for dinner, Ky asked for that spicy chicken thing you make if you’re up for it! Love you – and please don’t shoot my biomechanic.” </em> </p><p>At the bar.</p><p>At the bar.</p><p>At the bar. At the bar. At the bar.</p><p>Her heart dropped through her gut.</p><p>
  <em>Fuck. </em>
</p><p>Dryl coughed up another round of blood, decorating Hamilton’s lab coat as they dragged him onto a gurney.</p><p>
  <em>“Not. Me.”</em>
</p><p>“Alex,” she breathed, so quiet only Ella heard, her eyes going wide and panicked. “Winn, pull up Alex’s vitals <em>now!”</em></p><p>Which, technically, a violation of her privacy and something Lucy was only authorized to access during missions.</p><p>They could fire her if they wanted.</p><p>Because suddenly Alex’s vitals were on the screen – all over the show – heart rate skyrocketing, blood pressure dropping. Every single part of the chart looked to be in the worst extremes.</p><p><em>Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck</em>.</p><p>Her phone vibrated again.</p><p>“Lucy,” Maggie’s sharp, cop-voice came over the line. “There’s been an incident at the bar, I’m almost on scene but apparently it was some kind of chemical compound which only affected the aliens.”</p><p>“Alex is there,” she managed, forcing military into her voice when all she wanted to do was crumble. Panic. Cry. But instead she forced her mind to the next step. “And something's wrong – Dryl collapsed and her vitals are dropping.”</p><p>A caught breath, then “I’m two minutes out, I’ll evac her to the DEO,” and the line went dead.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>It started with Lucas.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He was only four.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Still slightly round in the cheeks. Only just managing grammatical sentences, mumbling and fumbling as he went. Quick to tears, but also laughter, despite his brand of childhood. Sweet and kind and full of life.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>And now, confined to a hospital bed. Breathing stuttered and forced, temperature through the roof. The veins in his chest growing black and pronounced.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He lost consciousness two days ago.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Alex hadn’t slept in three.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Because that’s when it started to spread. First the kids, then the elderly. John, who was already laboring under a breathing condition, followed suit.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The only thing that kept her going was Ky’s invincibility. And the fact that she seemed immune, human's unaffected. Because there was no working through this illness. You got it, and then you lost consciousness. And then you deteriorated.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>So, Alex is left, blessedly, guiltily, completely unaffected when disease rips through the ship.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“How you feeling?” Alex asked, pressing her fingers under Ella’s wrist as she counted the beats. Too fast.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Fab,” she eked back, red hair pale, skin washed out.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Glad to hear it,” but her smile was plastic – dragged over her lips with force. Eyes set on the beeping equipment.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“How many dead today?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“None.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yet.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Alex’s jaw ticked, but she didn’t contradict her. Yarus had passed during the night cycle, his advanced age and ongoing health problems crippling his ability to recover. Because that’s all Alex could do – keep people alive long enough that the illness burned itself out. They didn’t have the equipment to cure this – or the time.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But you could recover. Lucas had regained consciousness. Weak and scared, he'd even managed to clamber out of his bed into his brothers lap to cry himself back to sleep. But he was alive, and he would be fine, with time. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>After a harsh, dry cough, Ella forced more words out. “You should rest.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m fine.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Lying to a dying woman seems unsavory.”</em>
</p><p><em>That startled a laugh out of the doctor’s mouth before she could stop it, choked back when reality reasserted itself. She pressed a hand to a damp cheek, looking down at her friend. Her </em>best friend<em> in this stupid metal box. “I will not let that happen.”</em></p><p>
  <em>“You’re only human.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Out here, I’m just as alien as you.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah, but not as fabulous.” Which would have been a cocky claim if it wasn’t wheezed out between forced breaths. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Sleep,” she murmured, already mentally cataloguing her next six patients. “I’ll come check on you later.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Her eyes had already slipped closed when she responded. “Miss you already,” but the joke fell into genuine emotion. Too soft, too honest to be anything but the truth.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Alex’s heart ached as she stepped away. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bjorn was next – barely out of infancy. She’d delivered the boy, and less than a year later, he was fighting for his life. The only reason he’d survived this long was he was a Mosteel – they’re accelerated development gave his lung’s a chance.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But still, he was a truly gut-wrenching sight. The oxygen mask barely small enough to fit on his face, skin damp and pale. His mother laid out on the next hospital bed. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Alex shoved all the welling emotion down – she had a job to do. And right now, she was one of three that was able to do it. So she would endure. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Vitals. First, check his vitals. Focus on that. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Don’t focus on the stuttering breath of your Godson. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Alex,” tension rolled up her spine at Vik’s voice. “You must rest.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m fine.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Incorrect,” she felt her friend step up to her shoulder. “You have not slept in over 39 hours. And Ky informs me that you slept mere hours before that.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Ky is a snitch.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Snitch?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Something between a sigh and a laugh escaped Alex’s mouth at Vik’s confused tone. But she was too exhausted – mentally, emotionally, physically – to try and explain human-isms. “Never mind.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So, you will sleep?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She exhaled, pressing her palm against her good eye. The obscured view of Bjorn did nothing to alleviate the worry. Panic. Terror. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Are you okay to take over for a few hours?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I am capable for another cycle before I require rest.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Alex dropped her hands, pressing them into the thin mattress. Committed the image of the boy to her mind. “You’ll get me if anyone deteriorates?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I will get you if you are needed.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“That is not an answer.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Alex didn’t have to turn around to know that the woman’s eyebrows were furrowed over white eyes. Her “yes, it is” went unspoken – Vik unwilling to disagree with her friend when she is so clearly upset. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’ll try get some sleep,” she promised. She knew everyone was right. Her eyes ached, there was a headache growing behind her temples. Her hands were starting to shake. She would be no good to anyone if she collapsed. And Ky deserved to see her mother sometime this week – even if she would never actually complain about her absence. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Thank you.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Taking a deep breath, Alex brushed hair out of the Bjorn’s eyes. Stroked a finger down his cheek. Let herself watch his chest rise and fall – however stuttered. Before turning and striding out of the make-shift infirmary.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Exhaustion muddled the edges of her mind, but she managed to stumble into her quarters. They’d switched the main lights over to an adjusted cycle – help with the continuous care of the sick – but the rooms remained on the ordinary hours. So their bedroom was dark, excepting the moon lamp let in the corner. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Regardless of how quietly she closed the door, Ky’s sleep-roughened voice still came from the bed. “Ma?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hey love,” her whisper back carried, even as she started to strip out of her day clothes. “What are you doing up?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Waiting for you – Vik promised to get you to come to bed.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Colluding against your mother?” The gentleness softened the accusation, and Ky only shrugged in response. Dragging on a Henley and sweatpants, Alex dropped onto the bed – ignoring Ky’s disgruntled noise at the jostling. “Sorry I’ve been MIA lately.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It's fine,” she pressed the side of her face into the pillow, eyeing her mother’s shadowed face. “You okay?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Alex turned her head, smiling softly (edged with exhaustion). “I’m alright love – how are you doing?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>A partial shrug. “Kinda scared, I guess. Everyone’s scared.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Fear is really valid right now,” Alex shuffled, turning so they were facing each other – laying parallel to each other. “And anxiety. And apprehension. Basically, anything you’re feeling? Normal and acceptable, alright?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Yeah, yeah,” her mutter was too tired to be snarky, but Alex could read the effort in the eyeroll. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Reaching over, she tucked back some unruly hair, running a thumb down her daughters’ cheek. Something in her chest contracted at the parallels with Bjorn, not ten minutes ago. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Get some sleep, love. I’ll grab breakfast with you in the morning.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Some light broke in Ky’s eyes, turning her head a little to gage her mother’s seriousness. “Promise?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Promise.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em>And then Ky was smiling, pressing her face back into the pillow. Even as her daughters breathing evened, Alex didn’t look away. Instead, she set aching eyes on her child, committing the image to memory. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>She’s safe. Safe. Safe. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Watching the people she loved die, slow and sick and hurting, was a new brand of torture. One Alex wouldn’t wish upon anyone.  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The image of Alex being wheeled away remained burned into Lucy’s mind. The blood dripping down her cheek was in stark contrast to the paleness of her skin. Her hands were spluttered in red, and as they took her into the infirmary, she started to seize again, back arching up and away from the bed, arms straining under firm hands.</p><p>But she couldn’t have her breakdown now, here. She had to move forward, had to push on. Had to do <em>something</em>.</p><p>“Who’s this guy?” Lucy snapped; arms crossed as she glared into their glass quarantine cell. The guy looked mid-20s. His hair was sticking up, as if he’d been running his hands through it, revealing too sharp, too wiggly ears. His eyes were wide and red, and he looked inches from crying.</p><p>Maggie shifted next to her, arms also crossed, but eyes down, jaw tense. Heart still in her throat. Fear set in her heart. “He was on scene – wouldn’t let us take Alex without him.”</p><p>“Who are you?” She ordered, stepping towards the glass – towards the person who had been with her partner when she collapsed.</p><p>“I- I’m Zeek,” he managed, wringing his hands, eyes darting everywhere.</p><p>“How do you know Alex?” she demanded, taking another step forward.</p><p>“Whoa whoa,” El crashed into the room, stumbling as she made her way right up to the glass, pressing a hand to it. “Zeek, dude, you okay?”</p><p>Glancing between the pair of aliens, Maggie spoke first. “You know him?”</p><p>“He’s Exodus,” she explained, glancing over at her boss but keeping her hand pressed against the wall. “What’s he doing in here?” Because, yes, this also happened to be a prison cell when the needs suited.</p><p>“We can't risk him transmitting whatever he was exposed to in the bar to the rest of us,” and it was a show of how much Ella trusted Lucy that she nodded back without protest.</p><p>Working her jaw, the Director forced herself to relax, just enough that she could do this. Get through this one thing that she could do to help. To help Alex. Maggie, next to her, shook out her arms as well, coming to the same conclusion.</p><p>“What happened in there?” Lucy asked, trying to take the edge of the military. Failing, but it’s the thought that counts.</p><p>The man, Zeek, rubbed at his hands hard, glancing between Ella and Lucy.</p><p>“Ze,” El interrupted, tapping her fingers on the glass. “You can trust them, okay? They’re Alex’s <em>noamoys.</em>”</p><p>And whatever the fuck that meant had the alien widening his eyes, looking more closely at the women standing across from him. “Oh,” he breathed, dropping his hands. “I’m so sorry – I- we- we were having a drink – Nonalcoholic for her, I swear!” He paused, frantic eyes darting between them all. “And there was this guy – suspicious like, you know? Shady. So, she tried to go after him, but her legs all banged up, so I did. Just shadowing, ya know? Making sure he was on the up and up, and then he turned around and just sucker punched me! Then I heard the screams, and everyone comes runnin’ outta the bar. But only the humans.”</p><p>Maggie clenched her fist but turned to Lucy. “Medics said the only casualties were alien.”</p><p>“And whatever happened to Alex.”</p><p>“I’m so <em>sorry</em>,” and Lucy was startled to see there were actual tears in this abject stranger’s eyes. He’d taken a step closer to the glass, as if he was stepping closer to them. “If I hadn't followed him outside, I- I could have stopped this.”</p><p>“Hey,” El hit the glass softly, drawing his eyes back to her and flattening his ears against his skull. “The only reason you're still alive is because you followed that guy. None of this Danvers level guilt BS, ‘kay?”</p><p>He looked off to the side but nodded, wrapping arms around himself as he sat on the provided bench. Lucy had the unexpected thought that he looked so <em>young</em>.</p><p>But her phone was vibrating again, so she forced thoughts of protecting this weird alien almost adult from her mind and checked.</p><p>“Kara’s on her way, we have to go,” she informed the room.</p><p>“I’m gonna stay here,” El replied, looking at her boss. “But get me if something changes?” Because Alex and Dryl were her family – but Alex would want someone to stay with Zeek – wouldn’t want him locked in a strange room in a strange facility, alone.</p><p>Lucy nodded, already marching from the room.</p><p>The door clanged behind them, but Maggie’s hand wrapped around her bicep before she could move away. In one smooth pull, she found herself pressed to her partner’s chest, hand on the back of her head, chin tucked on shoulder.</p><p>In an instant, the detective created a small gap in time. A gap in space. Where it was just the two of them. Where Lucy could, for just a moment, breath. Inhale the warm scent of Maggie’s shampoo, and press her cheek into the soft leather and just <em>feel safe</em> for a split second. Feel loved and protected.</p><p>The words that were spoken into their silence broke the spell - “She’s gonna be okay Luce.”</p><p>But Lucy didn’t have anything to say in response – no platitude or reassurances. All she had was the blood splattered across Zeek’s clothes which she knew belonged to Alex. All she had was the sound of Alex grunting as her body brutally seized.</p><p>And all she could do was press herself harder into Maggie, hard enough that the sound of her heart could drown out the rapid crumbling of her thoughts.</p><p>And then they broke apart – foreheads lingering together long enough that Lucy was able to compose her thoughts – compose the swelling spiraling emotions tight in her chest.</p><p>And then they faced reality (together.)</p><p>“She’s stable,” was the first thing out of Hamilton’s mouth when she stepped out of airlocked medical room. Kara was in full Supergirl regalia but looked small, pressed against Maggie’s side on the metal benches lining the wall. Lucy had been too anxious to sit – the static buzzing along her skin making it too hard to touch. “But not out of the woods yet. She’s experiencing acute respiratory distress, so we have her on oxygen. There’s fluid gathering in her lungs, so I’ve prescribed furosemide to reduce the pressure.”</p><p>“The same as Dryl,” Lucy muttered, rubbing her eyes as she started to pace. She needed to get this electricity in her veins <em>out.</em></p><p>“Yes, though he is much less critical,” there was a pause, where the doctor glanced between the three women. “I understand that Dryl provided some of his DNA to make her prosthetic workable?” Maggie and Kara nodded; Lucy kept moving. “Well, my working theory is that whatever that process involved, meant that he is connected to her somehow. Thus, when she got infected, he experienced an echo of sorts.”</p><p>Maggie frowned, rubbing a hand along her sister’s shoulders while she looked up at the doctor. “That’s why she was the only human affected right? His DNA.”</p><p>“That seems to be the logical conclusion, yes.”</p><p>“Do you know what infected them?”</p><p>“I have never heard of a weapon, bio or otherwise, that only targets alien physiology. Whatever the chemical is, it’s advanced and dangerous.”</p><p>It was Kara that connected the dots first, whispering her horror and shock. “Cadmus.”</p><p>A new rage built in Lucy’s chest – smothering the panic and pain. As if there weren’t enough <em>fucking</em> reasons to hate Cadmus and those… <em>bastards.</em> Words from a million years ago clambered through Lucy’s mind, as true today as they were two and a half years ago;<em> if Lucy got her hands on Lillian Luthor, she would not live to see her day in court. </em></p><p>“Director Lane,” Lucy didn’t stop pacing, but she waved a hand, indicating the doctor should continue. “Without Danvers, we are out of our depth,” which, of course. Of <em>course,</em> Alex would be the one best suited to save herself. “I’d like to bring in Dr. Danvers, the senior, to help analyze the crime scene. She specializes in astrobiology; I think she could really help.”</p><p>Clenching her jaw, Lucy nodded her assent, letting the doctor hurry off to try and <em>save her partners life</em>.</p><p>Her heart stuttered in her chest. <em>Fuck</em>.</p><p>“Okay,” and suddenly Kara was up, false confidence wobbling on her face. “Let's get going.”</p><p>Whatever panic she’d managed to stem reared up again, chocking off her ability to protest.</p><p>Fortunately, Team Danvers Sister was a multi-person squad.</p><p>“Whoa, whoa, hey there Little Danvers,” Maggie’s hands were held out in front of the shaking Kryptonian. “You need to stay in the DEO until we can figure out exactly what kinda toxin we're dealing with, okay?”</p><p>“Maggie,” Lucy knew she was going for strong, stern, commanding – her Supergirl voice – but Alex Danvers baby sister was shining through. “This is Cadmus.”</p><p>“Yeah, I know. But our alien sister is not leaving here until we figure out how Cadmus was able to target only aliens,” Maggie insisted, stepping into Kara’s space, watching her trembling grow with every second. “And you need to stay here, for Alex. We’ll take care of the investigation – you just gotta look out for our girl, okay?”</p><p>A low blow, but effective, because Kara was already folding. Eyes wet and jaw twitching but nodding, wrapping arms around her stomach as she dropped back onto the bench.</p><p>“She’s going to be okay,” Maggie assured, crouching in front of the trembling woman, pressing hands to her knees. “Alex Danvers is a badass, remember?”</p><p>Lucy swallowed hard, looking away from the scene. She didn’t want them to see the dread clouding her face like an omen.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey! Remember that break I was taking! Well, I took it from What Monsters are Made of and worked on this instead, because I have a problem. But I only have two chapters left of content to write, so this is actually looking like there is an ending in sight! And I'm actually <em>relatively</em> happy with it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tasks. That was how Maggie got through disaster. Complete tasks until there are no more to complete, and then she can give herself permission to fall apart. But she had to get through each mandatory step first.</p><p>So, Kara first. The sister she never knew she wanted, needed, who was about an inch from disintegrating. Lena had been summoned to sit by her side, which quickly turned into Kara sitting in Alex’s lab while Lena helped research. Maggie’s heart <em>ached </em>at her blank eyes; ears locked on the sound of her sister’s heart beating three walls away in a hermetically sealed room. But she was grounded, and Lena wouldn’t let her do anything stupid. So, the Kara box was ticked.</p><p>Eliza… Eliza was second. Lucy was too <em>Director Lane</em> right now to engage with the complicated dynamic of a partner’s mother who hated you for putting a kill order out on her husband. And Kara was practically catatonic – so when J’onn landed with the elder Danvers in his arms, Maggie was the one that approached, leading her to the lab and explaining the problem with the rudimentary understanding she had.</p><p>“How’s Alex?” She’d asked, eyes frantic – more mother than doctor.</p><p>“She’s stable,” which wasn’t enough – not nearly enough – to reassure anyone. But it’s all they had.</p><p>At least the Danvers family had one thing in common – if you have them a problem to solve in a crisis, they threw themselves into it. Eliza hadn’t even stopped to question why a billionaire was drafted into helping her analyse a toxin. Or why her youngest was keeping the Luthor company in the lab, dressed as in a supposedly secret identity.</p><p>Third, was Ky. Which… was the hardest part. Because she’d had to ask Drew to pick her up, had to call and tell them what happened. What was going down. Because no one else could leave the premises. She had to liaise, and Lucy was Director and Kara was… barely here. So, the Exodus family had to get the youngest Danvers from school and bring her to the DEO and fight like hell to keep their thoughts to themselves.</p><p>The detective should have known Ky would get it out of them.</p><p>“Maggie,” the elevator door had barely opened, but Ky was already in front of her – standing between the mother and daughter. “Maggie, what happened?” She tried to edge around the detective, but she caught Ky’s shoulders, fingers digging into her jacket.</p><p>“Ky, sweetie, I need you to stay calm,” wide frantic eyes locked with hers, forehead pinching as she tried to read her mind – tried to extract the information she wanted.</p><p>“Where’s mom?” Her breathing started to come too fast, too shallow.</p><p>Maggie gripped her arms more solidly, trying to ground her to the room. She spared the lingering Drew a glance before tugging Ky into a hallway. Tugging her into a quieter space. “There was an accident – your moms in the infirmary.”</p><p>“I have to-“ Maggie’s boots skidded on the concrete when she refused to let go – Ky half jerking towards medical.</p><p>“No, Ky, wait,” voice stronger now, more insistent. “You can’t – you can’t see your mom yet.”</p><p>“What? <em>Why</em>?” She snapped back, defiance burning in her eyes. Ready to just phase right through the hands on her and <em>go to her mom</em>. The look of a Danvers on a mission for one of their own.</p><p>Maggie swallowed, tugging her closer, ducking her head as she answered. “She’s been infected with something and we don’t know if it’s contagious yet.”</p><p>“I don’t <em>care</em>!”</p><p>“Well, I do.”</p><p>Maggie didn’t quite snap, but her voice took on some steal. Some strength. Some fear for Ky – the kid who slept across the hall from her and blew up their microwave last week and never picks up her shoes – fear of her walking into that room and coughing up blood.</p><p>Maggie couldn’t- wouldn’t let another alien die today. And she sure as shit won’t let another Danvers get hurt.</p><p>Wouldn’t let <em>this </em>Danvers get hurt. Not her kid.</p><p>“Eliza and Lena are working on the toxin, okay? They’ll know more soon – but until then, you gotta stay away from that room.” Ky’s jaw hadn’t relaxed, and it made Maggie’s heart slam, panic surging in her chest. She touched her fingers to either side of the teenager’s jaw, waiting until their eyes met. “Mija, for me?”</p><p>The use of a title had Ky hesitating – had her eyes, posture, expression softening – had her leaning into Maggie’s fingers. Had a moment freezing between the pair – one filled with shared worry and pain and love. And it bought Maggie some faith – enough that Ky shifted.</p><p>Huffing out a shaking breath, she nodded, eyes wet and scared but willing to trust. Trust this woman who had loved and protected her for years now - this woman who would die before letting something happen to her mom. </p><p>“Where’s aiahv?”</p><p>Maggie tucked some hair behind her ear, letting her palm rest against a flushed cheek. “Upstairs with Lena – you wanna be with her? Or El’s in the training room with some guy named Zeek.”</p><p>But Ky was shaking her head. “I wanna be with aiahv, if that’s okay.”</p><p>“Yeah kid, that’s okay, come’on.”</p><p>So, Ky was third. Maggie felt better about both first and third when she left the lab. Kara had opened her arms the moment Ky appeared at the doorway. Given Ky was closer to sixteen-years-old than not, it was surprising how easily she fit under her aunt’s chin, tucking herself against the <em>S</em>, Kara’s arms strong and safe and comforting around her.</p><p>Two of her girls were settled, at least for now.</p><p>Fourth, was Lucy. Was… <em>supposed</em> to be Lucy. Who’d been running down leads and ordering Agents and just <em>doing her job</em>. It thrust Maggie back to the early days, when Alex was first deported – that same mechanical manner Lucy operated. J’onn had tried to relieve her – tried to take some of the pressure off – but Lucy had just glared and continued as if nothing was ever suggested.</p><p>They’d shared a look, Maggie and J’onn, and silently agreed that this was not something they could shift. Could change.</p><p>Then Eliza was summoning them, and they were gathering in the lab. Kara’s arm tightened around Ky’s shoulder. Lena gravitated towards the pair. Lucy and J’onn looked like the Co-Directors they were, arms crossed, and eyes set. Maggie took in all of this, feeling the tension in the room grow.</p><p>Eliza opened her mouth, then hesitated, glancing at the huddled pair. “Ky, do you mind giving us the room?”</p><p>Which, Maggie supposed, would have been a reasonable thing to ask your ordinary teenager whose parent was unwell. But not this teenager – who didn’t even dignify that with a response, just set her jaw and narrowed her eyes. Further, Kara didn’t remove the arm she had wrapped around her, fingers actually tightening in the fabric of the leather.</p><p>Sighing, the doctor turned back to the room. “The virus isn't transmittable organism-to-organism. You have to come in contact with a weaponized aerosol in order to be infected.”</p><p>“So, we can see her?” Ky asked, sitting up straighter.</p><p>“Yes,” and she was gone – literally phasing down through the floor into the lower level where Alex was residing. Eliza blinked, hard, at the sight, but no one made a comment. Everyone else in the room was well used to the Martians abilities by this point.</p><p>“Look, is Alex going to be okay?” Maggie asked, voice this side of shaky.</p><p>A pause, where everyone’s hearts collectively clenched. “Her immune system is battling the virus and she is fighting hard – but <em>whatever</em> alien DNA has been encoded into her is being attacked – it’s tearing her system apart.”</p><p>“So, what can we do?” Lucy, voice clear and calm and professional. Eliza’s expression slipped into a glare.</p><p>“Well, <em>Director Lane</em>, me and Lena are working on a cure, but it will be extremely difficult to determine anything without any of the original toxin to analyze. Whatever this is, its manufactured.”</p><p>In the silence that followed, Eliza visibly controlling her breathing, Kara shifted. Suddenly looking ready to abscond – follow her nieces’ example and just <em>see</em> her sister. But Eliza raised a hand, stopping her before she even left her seat. “There's something else. I isolated a strand of the virus from Alex’s blood. Based on the protein code, I'm fairly certain the virus is from Krypton.”</p><p>Kara frozen. Then her eyes darted to Maggie, then Lucy, and back. “A Kryptonian virus? How is that even…” Her eyes widened.</p><p>Maggie took a step forward. “Kar?”</p><p>“My blood. Remember…” Her brows furrowed, looking elsewhere. “Remember when they took my blood? Lillian made me solar flare?” Lena winced, but Maggie and Lucy nodded. “ That's why they needed it. To get in.”</p><p>Lucy shuffled her feet, arms tight across her chest. “To get into what?”</p><p>“The Fortress of Solitude,” and she sank back into her chair, eyes squeezing shut against the new information.</p><p>“I’ll have Winn compile everything we have on Cadmus, see if anything useful pops,” Lucy responded, already pulling out her phone.</p><p>“Wait,” Eliza’s eyes sharped, locked on Lucy. “Cadmus is involved?”</p><p>Lucy’s fingers froze on her phone, but Maggie answered, sparing a glance at Lena. “That’s the going theory, yeah. They are the only ones with the technology and… motivation for this kind of attack.”</p><p>Eliza’s fingers twitched, eyes darting between the Directors in the room. “Is… Is there any sign of Jeremiah?”</p><p>Maggie heard, rather than saw, Lucy’s fingers clench around her phone. The plastic case cracking under her grip. “You can’t be serious,” she hissed, quiet enough that Maggie wasn’t sure anyone was supposed to hear.</p><p>“I’m sorry <em>Director</em>,” Eliza’s voice took on a sharp edge. “Something disagreeable about me asking after my <em>husband’s</em> wellbeing? You know, the <em>former DEO Agent</em> and current <em>Cadmus</em> <em>hostage</em> you’ve failed to recover?”</p><p>Maggie took a step towards her partner, watching Lucy grit her teeth. Watched her bury it, closing her eyes and swallow the words she wanted to spit at the woman.</p><p>J’onn is who interrupted, stepping between his Co-Director and Eliza. “Right now, there is no sign of Jeremiah or his involvement.”</p><p>The detective could see that Eliza let her emotions drop to a simmer, stepping away from Lucy with a stiff nod. Lucy, clenched her jaw, taking the opportunity to retreat into central command.</p><p>And the Detective knew, before this day was over, something was going to have to give. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Just a heads up! I've almost finished another one-shot about Alex going from DEO to Doctor, so keep an eye out for it - I don't know if I'll post it into OneShots or its own little series (aprox 10,000 words so could be a standalone), so thats very unhelpful for your guys! Sorry! It'll be tagged as Alex Danvers/Lucy Lane/Maggie Sawyer regardless, or if you follow the Love of Monsters series you should be notified.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Lucy stood outside the exam room, nails digging into her biceps, posture painfully straight. Maggie had stepped away to answer her phone, leaving her to make her way down to the hermetically sealed room alone.</p><p>Well, not alone – Kara and Ky were in there – probably crumbling at the edges – but she was <em>walking in</em> alone.</p><p>All she had to do was take a step forward – reach over, enter her code, let herself in. Go and sit with her kid and pseudo sister – be there for them. Let them be there for her. Just one step.</p><p>
  <em>For fucks sake Lane. You are not this pathetic.</em>
</p><p>Then gentle fingers were pressing against hers, tucking under the digits until they relinquished their grip on her skin. Maggie stepped in front of her, carefully extracting her arms from their crossed position with soft eyes. Even when she turned back to the door, Maggie didn’t go far,  linking their hands and running her spare fingers along Lucy’s wrist.</p><p>“You ready?”</p><p><em>No</em>.</p><p>But she typed in her code, listening to the air hiss out.</p><p>The moment the doors gave way, revealing the devastating sight within, her breath caught in her throat.</p><p><em>Alex</em>.</p><p>She was still in her t-shirt from that morning – the one that Lucy’d thrown at her with a laugh. <em>Put the abs away Danvers, no one needs to see that first thing in the morning.</em> She’d smirked back, just enough teeth to be suggestive, but obeyed.</p><p>But everything else about her was changed. It already looked like her cheeks were sinking in, her skin a chalky white. Even from across the room, Lucy could see she was clammy, a gleam on her forehead. But it was the oxygen mask strapped to her face that had Lucy’s chest contracting, had her tightening her fingers around Maggie’s. Every breath seemed stuttered, her chest visibly rising with the effort.</p><p>The only thing that kept her from weeping was the other two in the room. Ky-stop-a-missile-with-her-body-Danvers looked… defeated. She was curled up in chair, holding one of her mom’s hands with both of hers. Eyes locked on her mother; jaw too tight.</p><p>Kara’s gaze was also fixed on her sister, but she wasn’t seated. Instead, she stood, arms crossed, back straight, right behind her niece. Protective. Stoic. Only years of practice enabled the couple to see through the mask – the façade she put on for Ky. See, just skin deep, the broken 13-year-old alien who lost her planet, who entrusted her entire world in her sister, A sister she had already lost once.</p><p>Had already watched her slip away once.</p><p>Mechanically, Lucy found herself stepping up to Alex’s free side, fingers grazing her hand. <em>Chilled</em>. Her hands were chilled.</p><p>“I spoke to Leeroy,” Maggie kept her voice quiet, as if avoiding completely shattering the silence of the room. “He has an idea.” She braced her hands on the end of Alex’s bedframe, emotion churning at the sight. “He’s on his way to the Exodus now.”</p><p>“What’s the idea?” Kara asked, a little Supergirl in her voice.</p><p>Lucy remained dazed; eyes fixed on her partner. Ears set on her breathing. Nothing else penetrated – cotton wool was jammed in her ears – chest filled with cement.</p><p>“He tried to explain, but it’s a little above my paygrade,” the chemist was apparently a genius – she’d have to take Alex’s word for it because he was also completely unable to communicate concepts to laymen. Alex always laughed and claimed it was the language barrier – the man had enough trouble translating into English without also simplifying the concepts.</p><p>“He’s getting the <em>haesd</em>,” Ky didn’t otherwise move, expression blank, voice vacant.</p><p>“Hased?” Maggie tried, tongue stumbling over the alien word.</p><p>“<em>Haesd</em>,” she paused, everyone watching as Alex struggled through another breath. “It’s a cure-all from Tormock.”</p><p>Kara jerked her head around, looking down at her niece. “What? That’s… that’s great, right?” </p><p>Ky shrugged, leaning forward to rest the side of her head on the bed, gazing up at her mom. “Maybe,” she mumbled. “But there isn’t a lot, and it’d have to be modified. So, it wouldn’t kill her. Or, well,” she blinked, a tear running over her nose. “Kill her faster.”</p><p>“Hey, no,” Kara started, hand finding the teenagers shoulder. “Alex is tough – she’s gonna be okay.”</p><p>“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Maggie’s heart ached at the dead tone – at the emptiness pervading every aspect of the girl. “We were supposed to be <em>safe</em> here.”</p><p>The detective had to work her jaw against her tears, sharing a broken look with Kara.</p><p>Lucy still hadn’t looked up from her fixated state.</p><p>A particularly harsh, wet exhale from Alex had everyone reacting – tension vibrating through the room.</p><p>It shook Lucy from her static. She took Alex’s hand with one of hers, the other reach over to smooth hair from her clammy face. She left her fingers in the loose stands until the half cough settled.</p><p>There was some blood splattered on the inside of the mask.</p><p>Maggie phone buzzed.</p><p>Gritting her teeth, Maggie stepped over to conscious pair of Danvers – touching a hand to Kara’s arm and pressing lips to the crown of Ky’s head before navigating back to Lucy. She knew, by now, that there was no penetrating her focus. There was no distracting her from the sight of Alex Danvers, love of her life, laid out unconscious and dying. But Maggie still took a moment to kiss her temple, running a thumb over the hand gripping Alex’s.</p><p>Maggie left most of her heart in the hospital room when she stepped into the hall, pulling out her phone.</p><p>A whole new set of emotions surged in her chest – tightening her shoulders as she marched back the way they’d come.</p><p>[…]</p><p>Eliza Danvers was many things. ‘Brilliant’ was her most often cited.</p><p>Which is why she was able to compartmentalize; able to put the fact that her daughter was dying in a box and shove it to the back of her mind; able to ignore the fact that another <em>Luthor</em> was helping her break down the virus on a molecular level; able to disregard the way her youngest daughter gravitated towards said Luthor; able to set aside the fact that she hated the DEO. Why she was able to put 100% of her focus into unfolding the secrets behind the virus – able to study it like it were any other mystery in her lab.</p><p>What she was not, however, willing to do, was take this stranger’s advice on astrobiology.</p><p>“I don’t know who you think you are,” Eliza started, advancing on the small man with translucent skin. “But we are not injecting <em>further</em> foreign substances into my child.”</p><p>“Dr. Danvers,” Lena started, trying to keep her tone respectful. “Leeroy works with me at L-Corp, he’s part of the Exodus crew – you can trust him.”</p><p>“Neither of those qualities inspire trust, I’m afraid,” she snapped back, not taking her eyes off the wilting man.</p><p>“What’s going on?” Even though it was the <em>preferred</em> partner of her daughter interrupting, Eliza didn’t find herself softening at all. “Leeroy, you okay dude?”</p><p>“He’s fine – just on his way out of my lab.”</p><p>Maggie frowned, glancing between the three occupants in the room. Eliza looking fierce, Lena torn, and Leeroy terrified of the angry, stressed Danvers woman in from of him (he knew what angry, stressed Danvers women were capable of).</p><p>“Did you bring the Hased?” Maggie asked, taking a single step into the room. Trying to ignore the tension. </p><p>“<em>Haesd</em>,” Leeroy corrected, glancing at the detective who he only knew peripherally, unsure whether she was an ally in this. “And yes – it is less than I would have wanted, so it will be difficult to create enough for both Dryl and Alex, but I can start working on it now.”</p><p>“And this will work on the virus?”</p><p>“Theoretically,” his fingers flexed around the metal cylinder in his hands. “Tormock is this extremely technologically advanced dictatorship. They put a lot of time and resources into making sure their DNA and… projects could be regenerated.” </p><p>“My <em>daughter</em> is not a project,” Eliza snapped, fists clenching.</p><p>Maggie bit her lip, taking another step into the room, coming to Leeroy’s side. “That’s not what he’s saying Ma’am – this is just the best chance we have at the moment.”</p><p>“I won’t let the DEO inject my dying daughter with some untested substance from another galaxy!”</p><p>“Okay,” Maggie stepped up to Eliza, but glanced at the other two. “Give us the room guys?”</p><p>Leeroy was gone before she finished – Lena taking more hesitant steps. Only when Maggie gave a reassuring nod did she commit. When the door clicked shut behind them, she turned back to her partner’s mom and tried to find the balance between respectful and <em>what the fucking fuck. </em></p><p>“I understand that you don’t trust this place,“ Eliza’s eyes narrowed. “But everyone here is doing everything they can to help Alex – that you have to trust.”</p><p>“Why on earth would I trust that?” Her lip pulled away from her teeth, fire in her eyes again. “This… <em>place</em> has done nothing but put my daughters – my <em>family</em> –  in jeopardy.”</p><p>Maggie held her breath for a moment, letting the pain and hurt underneath Eliza’s words wash over her. Acknowledge that this woman was fiercely protective of her daughter. But, also, entirely unable to set aside her bias. Entirely unable to see beyond what she wanted, and what her daughter would have wanted. Which, Maggie supposed, was the entire problem with their relationship from the beginning.</p><p>“I understand that you feel the DEO has turned their back on Jeremiah, but can’t you see that this is separate? This isn’t about him, this is about <em>Alex</em>, and everyone here is trying to save her.”</p><p>“She wouldn’t need saving if it weren’t for this place.”</p><p>“She wouldn’t need saving if it weren’t for <em>Jeremiah.</em>” The moment the words escaped her; Maggie inhaled sharply. That was… not the best. In fact, that was decidedly the wrong reaction. Even if it was true. Even if Jeremiah, and his organization, were at the center of this tragedy.</p><p>Attacking the grieving, panicking, mother who was currently trying to save her daughter was definitely he wrong decision. Not that it was a <em>decision</em>.</p><p>Maggie was barely holding it together – barely keeping the strands of her sanity in her grasp. Lucy, Kara, Ky, Alex – all of their worry and panic and pain swirled in her chest – weighed down her gut. Made her feel heavy and laden. And now she had to play peacemaker between the people trying to end all the pain – trying to <em>help</em>.</p><p>“Sorry, I’m sorry,” Maggie pinched the bridge of her nose, raising a hand between them. “This isn’t productive. We need to focus on <em>Alex </em>right now. And she trusts this place, okay? She trusts the DEO and Leeroy and Lena, and if you can’t trust those things, I understand. But you have to trust your daughter.”</p><p>Their eyes locked, and for a moment, it was a test of wills. Both loved Alex Danvers. Both were willing to do… anything to protect her. Save her. And right now, they needed to align their interests, or everyone lost.</p><p>And that was an unacceptable outcome.</p><p>“Okay,” Eliza pressed out, posture too rigid, jaw too tight. But able, just barely, to see that Maggie was right. And this was the girlfriend of her daughters she was willing to trust – it was better conceding here, then have the other take away the choice altogether. She waved at hand at the door. “Let’s find out what they’ve got.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know most of you want What Monsters are Made of, but I've been sitting on this chapter too long and I know people wanted this as well - so I'll aim to have Ch. 14 edited by tomorrow night.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Lucy,” the voice was distant, like it was coming through fog. Which, she supposed, it was. From the moment Alex started to cough, the world narrowed down until it was just her. Captain Reckless Danvers laid out on a hospital bed, fighting for her life. That was all she could see. All she could hear. Until, again, a distance. “Luce.”</p><p>She turned her head, and there stood Kara. Still in her Supergirl outfit, looking solemn and serious and not at all like the sister who wears fluffy pink socks when she’s in a good mood.</p><p>“Yeah?” Did she say that?</p><p>“Freyer’s on her way, but I have to go to the Fortress now. There might be something there on whatever this is,” she nodded her head at Alex. <em>Whatever this is</em> – whatever is killing the single most important person in their worlds. “I’ll use Ve to travel, so I won’t be at risk for too long.”</p><p>“Okay,” how was she producing sound?</p><p>“You’ll stay here?” It took Lucy a second to realise that she didn’t mean <em>with Alex</em>. She meant with Ky. The teenager who was still silently staring up at her mother, tears tracking down her face. She managed a nod, eyes now locked on the girl.</p><p>Then Kara was gone.</p><p>And it was just Ky and Lucy. And the sudden lack of Kara looking over her kid refocused the Director despite the fog clinging to her mind.</p><p>Carefully she placed Alex's hand on the bed, running fingertips over the familiar freckles one last time. Circling the bed, Lucy came to stand beside Ky and crouched. The teenager continued to star at Alex, tears gathering and falling undisturbed. Silent.</p><p>“Ky?” A slow blink. Her face didn’t move, but her eyes drifted down to meet hers. Empty and terrified and echoing everything pressing against the inside of Lucy’s chest. But she had to be there for this child she loved, for this child that loved her. Relied on her. And needed her to be strong right now. “She is going to be fine, okay? Alex Danvers is not going to be beaten by some virus – she is much too stubborn for that.”</p><p>“You don’t know.” Whispered. Broken. </p><p>“I <em>do</em>,” she tried to dredge up her lawyer’s eyes. Probably not the most successful attempt, but whatever Ky saw had her wet gaze sharpening. Focusing. “I just do. And until then? Me and you are going to sit right here and hold her hand.”</p><p>“You’ll…” a blink. Two tears fell – Lucy only had time to reach up and catch one, but Ky still closed her eyes at the affection. Exhaled a little of the terror. “You’ll stay?”</p><p>Her two sides reared in her mind – two styles of parenting clashing inside her chest.</p><p>The first, which sounding eerily like General Lane, snarled viciously in the back of her skull, skulking in the corners. <em>No. I have to work, I have to focus, I have to be productive. Crying never saved anyone. </em>All the things being General Lane’s daughter required – brutal compartmentalization.</p><p>The second voice was unfamiliar. Or, well, mostly unfamiliar. Lucy could almost imagine it was her mother whispering, distant and soft. Correcting the sharp angry thoughts – reflecting how the triad had decided to be a co-parent of Ky Danvers. The side that had her always, <em>always</em>, responding to Ky asking her to <em>stay</em> with a soft smile. Gentle eyes. Had her skimming knuckles down wet cheeks and pressing her palm into the side of her neck.</p><p>“Yeah, I’ll be here. I got you, always.”</p><p> […]</p><p>Maggie found Kara out on the balcony, elbows digging into the wall, head tipped forward. She didn’t have to ask to know that she was listening to Alex’s heartbeat. Maybe Ky’s as well.</p><p>She approached quietly, resting elbows next to hers. “How’d it go?”</p><p>Kara didn’t open her eyes when she responded, voice slightly distant. Strained. “Henshaw stole the virus's formula from the Fortress, which means Cadmus can make as much as they want. I gave everything to Eliza and Lena; they’re already working on reverse engineering it.”</p><p>A slow exhale, Maggie’s eyes scanning the buildings. “Good. That’s… good.”</p><p>“Have you sent word out through your contacts?”</p><p>“That what?” She turned, looking at Kara sideways. “There’s an unknown alien virus potentially about to be released, and we don’t know when or how or whether it can be prevented? You know we can’t do that,” she dragged a hand through her hair roughly. “It’ll just cause a panic and more people would get hurt.”</p><p>“I know,” quiet. Kara’s eyes searching the distance. “You know, this view always kinda reminded me of the view from my room on Krypton,” Maggie looked over, surprised. Kara didn’t talk about it much, even after all these years of sisterhood. “I could see the whole city from that window. All the lights, pods zooming by...” she trailed off, jaw tightening. “But then again, I guess I didn't truly see anything.”</p><p>She turned, pressing her hip to the banister to look more directly at her sister’s distress. “What do you mean?”</p><p>“This virus,” a little rage dripped into her tone. “This virus that is killing Alex – that <em>killed</em> all those people at the bar. My <em>father</em> created it – to protect Krypton against <em>alien threats,</em>” she rolled her jaw, Maggie watching on in concern. “All my life I thought my parents were the good guys. But now, the more I learn, the more I see things, how they really are…” she jerked away from the wall, still looking out into the city. The final words were broken, rasped, hurt crawling into Kara’s expression and tone. “The more I'm ashamed to be their daughter.”</p><p>“Hey, kid,” she reached over, grasping her wrist and squeezing. “I more than anyone know what it’s like to be disillusioned by your parents. Hell,” she jerked her chin towards the DEO. “Ask Winn, or Lucy, or even Alex when she wakes up. We all get it – realizing they weren’t necessarily the people we thought. But yours, as backwards as it seems, they were just trying to protect their home, they’re people. You.”</p><p>Blue furious eyes locked on her. “Jeremiah only does what he does <em>for Alex</em>. Does that make it okay? Lex and Lillian Luthor think their intentions were good, sometimes even for Lena’s benefit. That just… it isn’t enough.”</p><p>“I know,” she stepped closer, standing before her sister with as much strength as she contained. “I know.”</p><p>“Is this their legacy?” Kara’s eyes watered further, looking at her like she might actually have the answers to her pain. “Death and destruction across the universe?”</p><p>“No,” she released her hand to reach up, tucking hair away from a hard face. Caught blue eyes, held them. “Your parents' legacy is not death and destruction, Kara Danvers. It's you. And that," she smiled, one dimple appearing as she looked into her sister's eyes. "That is something to be proud of."</p><p>[…]</p><p>Lena Luthor had had a very strange three years. From the moment she met Kara Danvers her universe seemed to have expanded beyond comprehension.</p><p>At first, she thought it was just going to be the whirlwind that was being caught in Kara’s sphere. Lunch dates and dinner dates and none of it actually being <em>dates</em>, but filled with butterflies and joy, nonetheless.</p><p>Then Alex Danvers disappeared. Which really would never have blinked on her radar. She hardly knew the woman, aside from saving her life that one time and the brief moment she thought Kara was dating her. Other than that? Not a huge deal. Except that it was, because Sunshine Kara Danvers became a blackhole – all light and joy devoured in her grief.</p><p>Grief her mother caused. Not that Kara ever said anything. Not that she ever mentioned Lillian’s involvement in the kidnapping and turning of Jeremiah Danvers, Kara’s foster father. Not that she ever mentioned her mother orchestrating the deportation of innocent aliens on mass, sister caught in the crosshairs. But she knew – could feel it in the room. Kara Danvers had suffered a great loss and was sinking into it. Fast.</p><p> So, she picked up her involvement. Insinuated herself further. Tried to just be there for the personification of cheer and goodness. Until, one day, she was invited to a game night. And that is when the ball really started rolling.</p><p>Because Lucy Lane was a fabulous poker player. And Maggie Sawyer had a wicked sense of humor, considering she was once arrested by the woman. Which is how game nights started to include double dates (sans the second date) and her world started to expand. No longer rotating around L-Corp and being a Luthor, and instead about these strange people, this family she didn’t know she wanted.</p><p>Then. Alex Danvers reappeared. Literally falling from the sky if Kara was to be believed. And with her came anxiety – that Lena would lose her place. That Alex would blame her for her four years of lost time, four years of trauma, four years of pain. But no. Wrong again.</p><p>Instead, Alex Danvers offers her revolutionary research and changed the face of L-Corp forever. And then convinces her to hire aliens, Dryl and Leeroy, who would help alter the face of science for a generation. And, somewhere along the way, Alex would become someone equally dear to her, someone who understood her. Grinned at her puns and followed her science rants. </p><p>And now, she was standing in a room trying to save that woman’s life. On one side, Eliza, who despised her for her last name; the other, Leeroy, who had worked under her for years. Worked with Dryl and Alex for longer.</p><p>Frustration, fear, rage finally boiled over and before she knew it the laptop was on the other side of the room, cracked down the middle and whirling furiously. But she didn’t care. Alex was downstairs, her kid right next to her, watching her die. And she couldn’t fucking <em>fix it</em>.</p><p>The sound must have been loud – the walls of this compound echoed, which seemed counter intuitive for a military base – but suddenly the lab had guests. Maggie and J’onn rounding the corner moments after Kara blew in. All with wide eyes, locked on the destruction. But it was Leeroy that broke first.</p><p>“Boss?” He twitched, as if to move, but his eyes kept skipping to Eliza’s stiff form. “You good?”</p><p>
  <em>No. Not at fucking all. Thanks for asking. </em>
</p><p>Her jaw ticked as she stared down at the table, fingers gripping the edges of the workbench. “Using what Kara provided, I’ve been able to reverse engineer the virus – Using L-Corps Isotope 454, Dr Danvers,” she hated saying that and meaning someone other than Alex. “Could create a counter which neutralize it’s effects before it hits the air.”</p><p>“That’s good news,” J’onn, but his voice was stoic. He knew what Lena wasn’t saying – could read it in her swirling thoughts, in her body language, in her expression.  </p><p>“But this won’t help Dryl or Alex,” Maggie finished, pressing her spine against the doorway. To keep herself up, Lena didn’t know, but she felt the same urge to collapse waring at the corners of her mind.</p><p>“No, it won’t. I need a living sample of the virus.”</p><p>“And your mother isn’t about to hand that over,” Eliza finished, fury on her tongue. Lena flinched, but didn’t respond. She wasn’t wrong.</p><p>“Leeroy, what about you?” Kara stepped forward, arms crossed, Supergirl in her outfit but not her voice. “How’s the Haesd replication going?”</p><p>The man withered under their eyes, leaning back against his station and shaking his head. “I’m a chemist, not a bio-mechanic or xeno-biologist. I’m out of my depth.”</p><p>Lena ducked her head, frustration buzzing under her skin. “What he’s saying is that the only people who can save Dryl and Alex are Dryl and Alex.”</p><p>The alien didn’t verbally confirm, but his ducking head was enough.</p><p>Tension notched up in the room.</p><p>“Look,” he shifted, taking a breath. “I have enough of this stuff to save one of them, right now,” Kara straightened, Maggie frowned, J’onn crossed his arms. “But only one. And given what this has the potential to do to human DNA…”</p><p>“You’re saying we have to <em>choose</em> one, and it <em>shouldn’t be Alex?” </em>Kara hissed, taking a hard step forward with blazing eyes. Lena was a little surprised her laser vision didn’t engage.</p><p>“Look, hey!” He raised his hands, taking a stuttering breath. “You’re Kryptonian – you <em>know</em> what Tormock was capable of. I have <em>no idea </em>what this will do to Alex, but I know it’ll save Dryl. If Alex were here-“</p><p>“She’d tell you to give it to Dryl,” Maggie finished, sinking into a crouch by the door, eyes locked on the floor, hand hand digging into her hair.</p><p>“You can’t be serious!” Kara snapped; hands thrown in the air.</p><p>“Kara, I am going to continue to work on reverse engineering this – we aren’t giving up,” Eliza cut in, stepping into the conversation. “And I for one am not allowing Alex to be injected with something your scientist has just admitted is extremely dangerous. We should go with what we can control – just give me some time.”</p><p>“We don’t have time!” Kara snapped. “I can hear Alex’s heart – her breathing. She won’t last that long! We have to do something, and it has to be soon.”</p><p>“Look,” J’onn finally took control. Stepping between the warring parties with his solid presence. “Leeroy is correct. We cannot gamble on the only cure we have just for a wild shot at saving Alex. It is not what she’d want, and it isn’t the best option. Furthermore,” he set calm eyes on Kara, waiting for her to return his gaze. “Dryl is an asset to helping from a biology standpoint – he knows how his DNA is encoded into Alex, he’ll have insight we can’t otherwise access. Getting him healthy and on side only increases her odds.”</p><p>The silence that followed the decision was complete. But inside Lena’s head? A cacophony of sound – some of which included murderous thoughts aimed at her mother.</p><p>But then Maggie was standing, jaw tight and set and <em>aching</em>. “Let’s do this then,” and she led the way to Dryl’s room. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So! Because it was a long weekend in NZ (question: do you guys celebrate 'city days' overseas? It was Auckland Anniversary day yesterday, so I had a day off. Is that an international thing or are we just weird?) you get a slightly early update! Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dryl could not breathe.</p><p>That’s all he could think about as the minutes ticked over. </p><p>Every inhale cut into his throat. His lungs strained, littered with shrapnel. Everything ached right down his chest, throbbed along his skin. Like his very flesh was rubbed raw. </p><p>And as much as it hurt? As much pain as he lay drowning in?</p><p>It was all an echo of what was happening to his friend in the next room.</p><p>Drew had yet to leave his side. He knew that this is what Alex would have asked of them. Assumed that they were only there out of loyalty to their shared leader. Though, a small voice reminded him that the crew had cared for him many a time absent Alex’s presence. He didn’t have the brain power to dismiss that properly right now. Not when every thought was dragged through the fog of agony.</p><p>Then the sterility of his room was disturbed. He felt the air shift over his fragile skin.</p><p>In the corner of his eye Drew jerked to their feet, shaking their head against the sleep that had dragged them under. He didn’t blame them – they’d just finished their all-day re-evaluation, part of the arrangement to allow the crew off-world months at a time but continue to be employed by the DEO.  </p><p>The sudden drum of voices in his clogged ears forced his mind back to the matter at hand.</p><p>He couldn’t make sense of the overlapping words – people arguing? People discussing? Impossible to judge.</p><p>It took seconds for him to reach up and pull off his oxygen mask. Like dragging his arm out of cement. “What are you doing?” Rasped out of a raw bleeding throat, it drew every eye to him in a heartbeat.</p><p>“Dryl,” Lena Luthor stepped around the crowd, hands gripping the edge of his bed. She’d always respected his tactic boundaries. He’d liked that about her from day one. “We’re going to make you feel better, okay?”</p><p>Swallowing around his agony, he tried to lock blurry eyes on his boss. “How?”</p><p>“<em>Haesd</em>,” his mind noted how impressive it was that she could pronounce the word. He figured the accent she tried to hide assisted where other humans would struggle. “Leeroy got ahold of some from the Exodus.”</p><p>That sounded good. Like a solution to the pain tearing through his entire being. And, normally, he’d just nod and allow the doctors to take the lead. But… but. Something wasn’t right. He was hardly the person best able to judge these things, but Maggie Sawyer was here. And she looked… unhappy. Visibly not okay. Even Lena Luthor looked unsatisfied with this outcome.</p><p>It took his sluggish brain too long to click into what was wrong.</p><p>Jerking away from Lena’s hands with all the strength he could muster, he gritted teeth against the searing pain he got in return. </p><p>“Dryl,” the scientist raised her hands in surrender, syringe held aloft. “I have to inject this – I know you don’t like touch but-“</p><p>“No,” he swallowed again. Tasted the sweetness of his own blood. Turning to look beyond his employer he tried to catch the dark eyes of the NCPD Sergeant. “Alex?” There was a better phrased question in there, he just lacked the necessary energy.</p><p>
  <em>What about Alex? Why is she still in pain? I can feel it burning through my connection. Why are you <strong>here</strong>?</em>
</p><p>Maggie’s eyes held something… something. He was not well versed enough in human emotion to name it.</p><p>But he knew it was bad.</p><p>“She’s not doing well,” Lena was best suited for hard truths. “But we’re going to help you recover first. Then we’ll refocus – hopefully with your help, alright?”</p><p>But he was already shaking his head. Breathing shortening as he tried to sort through the haze of everything. The emotion sitting in the room. The pain burning in his veins. The echo of Alex in his chest.</p><p>“No.”</p><p>“Dryl,” Drew. Voice hard and strained. “We gotta do this, dude. It’s what Alex would want.”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>The word itself was all his energy. He didn’t have the capacity to explain <em>why</em> no. Just… no.</p><p>No. No, no, no.</p><p>Over his dead body.</p><p>“Dryl,” Maggie had stepped forward. Arms crossed over her chest, jaw tight, eyes hard. He’d seen that look on her before, during the kidnapping upon their return to Earth. She was scared. “Buddy, we need your help with Alex. So, we need you to get better – please.”</p><p>He knew that what she was asking was reasonable to her. Knew that this was them trying to do the right thing. But it wasn’t.</p><p>This was the wrong thing.</p><p>Lena’s hands on his arm had him jerking away again. Even through his pain he forced himself up on his elbow.</p><p>The fog of everyone speaking was back. Words overlapping in his head – blurring into nothingness.</p><p>But he could only hear his own thoughts. And not even plural. Just the one.</p><p>
  <em>Save her. </em>
</p><p>Everyone shifted – Lena’s hands raised in hesitation as he forced his legs over the edge of the bed.</p><p>Someone shouted.</p><p>Lena crashed against the monitors.</p><p>He stumbled as his feet hit the ground, Leeroy catching him on impulse.</p><p>Dryl jerked away.</p><p>He had what he needed.</p><p>Calling up another’s strength – making a mental note to apologize to Sch’oty later – he ducked under Drew’s raised arm. They moved away from him anyway – years of avoiding accidental contact with the bioengineer forcing their hand.</p><p>His shoulder slammed into the concrete halls of the DEO with much too much velocity. It hurt.</p><p>Nowhere near as much as his lungs.</p><p>Someone shouted his name.</p><p>He turned just in time to crash his fist against the door’s operating panel. The whole thing shattered under the force – locking everyone inside.</p><p>Over the shouts of those trapped, he coughed, just once, into his elbow.</p><p>It came out spluttered in blood.</p><p>Forcing himself to move, he dragged his body along the wall, towards the other containment room on this floor. Hoping that his Captain was held within.</p><p>[…]</p><p>Once Freyer arrived, Lucy’d dragged over the only other armless chair in the room and pressed it against Ky’s. It took some gentle encouragement, but eventually the teenager folded herself against the adult. She looked smaller than Lucy ever remembered seeing her; legs curled up, head on her lap, one hand resting on her thigh, clenched into a fist even in sleep. She carefully, slowly, ran fingers through her hair, finding comfort in the act of comfort. Tucked under Kara’s cape, gently laid over her when Kara suddenly returned, Ky seemed younger than the director had ever known her. It flared now familiar maternal instincts, making it near impossible for her to take her eyes off her kid.</p><p>Kara, standing guard on the other side of the bed didn’t look much bigger, even with her arms crossed and eyes hard. She’d returned with a… different kind of energy. Angrier. Lucy didn’t ask, she didn’t want to know. Not right now.</p><p>This was the closest they’d come to losing their favorite person in… a long time. Since Malverne probably. Even during the Daxamite trouble, no one had really felt Alex slip away in any tangible way. At least, not towards death.</p><p>Not like they did right now. Watching Alex struggle for air, wheeze it out.</p><p>Then, Kara turned towards the door, spine painfully straight. It would have looked more intimidating if she was wearing her full costume. Without the cape… she looked a lot more like a kid playing dress up. </p><p>Not that Lucy doubted she’d eviscerate anyone that came through that door and tried to hurt those within.</p><p>But, apparently, that wasn’t on the menu this afternoon, because suddenly Kara was yanking the doors open and allowing whoever was on the other side in.</p><p>Ky’s weight was the only thing that kept her seated at the sight. Dryl, still in his blood splattered shirt from this morning, stumbled into the room. He looked almost as drawn and exhausted as Alex, his dark cheeks sunken in, a coating of sweat along his forehead.</p><p>Fuck. Lucy almost felt bad for how little she’d thought about her friend in the last several hours.</p><p>“Dryl?” Kara glanced from him, leaning against the now closed door, and off to the side. Head tipped in the way that told Lucy she was listening to something. “What happened?”</p><p>“Nothing,” his voice was gravel, forced out of blood painted lips. But it was enough that Freyer strode around to him, catching him under the arm to keep him upright. Being anti contact was something she respected, but not at the risk of the literally dying man collapsing on the ground.</p><p>At the sudden commotion in the previously still, silent room, Ky stirred, blinking heavily and allowing Lucy to slowly get to her feet. Though not before gently helping her kid upright – hands soft and guiding. Setting her Director Look on the alien, she tried to gather some of her authority. “What’s going on?”</p><p>Dragging in a pained breath, the alien held up his hand – a syringe held within his fingers.</p><p>“I’m here to save my friend.” The flare of surprise over the Freyer’s face reminded Lucy that this man had never admitted to affection in her presence before. Not once. Not in two years. So, yeah, shocking.</p><p>But not as shocking as Eliza shoved her way into the room – the door clanging violently behind her.</p><p>The rage painted across her face had Lucy sucking in a breath. Had Kara stepping closer to her foster mother.</p><p>The snarl on her lips had everyone tensing except Dryl, who seemed only able to focus on keeping himself upright.</p><p>But he was who Eliza directed the force of her rage, eyes narrowed in fury and panic. </p><p>
  <em>“I won’t let you touch my daughter.” </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>For TTBellice! I hope this satisfies the cliffhanger!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What the <em>hell</em> is going on?” Lucy finally snapped, stepping up to the end of Alex’s bed. Focused eyes darted between Dryl’s exhausted half slumped form and Eliza’s ramrod straight one, chest heaving with the force of her breath. “Why are you out of bed? And why aren’t you in the lab?”</p><p>Not the ideal thing to say to your future mother-in-law but Lucy was out of bandwidth for subtlety.</p><p>Eliza’s lip pulled back as she stepped forward, eyes still locked on the struggling Dryl. “This… this <em>man</em> thinks he can inject my daughter with some untested, unknown alien substance from a species of<em> xenophobic fascist dictators</em>.”</p><p>Lucy distantly noted the irony of Eliza describing someone as a xenophobic fascist but bit her tongue.</p><p>Dryl struggled upright, shrugging away Freyer’s hands. It was only now that Lucy noted he’d <em>allowed</em> someone to touch him. Visibly swallowing, he turned to look at the woman who, as far as Lucy was aware, he’d never met. “It will save her.”</p><p>Eliza’s eyes caught fire. The step towards him threatening enough that Kara followed the movement, ready to intervene. “You have <em>no idea</em> what that will do to her! It could make her worse – even kill her. I won’t allow it!”</p><p>“I do not care,” he replied, each word forced out with wheezing breaths. “It is necessary.”</p><p>“What gives you the <em>right-“</em> Lucy blinked as Eliza’s next step was halted. Not by Kara, who was still hesitating at the sidelines, but by Freyer.</p><p>Freyer, in all her six-foot, unsettlingly calm glory, stepped between the swaying alien and her Captain’s mother. Eyes harder than Lucy had never seen, looking more intimidating that she’d have thought possible for a woman in a cream colored, cable knit sweater. “You need to calm down,” even her voice lost its gentle soothing conviction. A thread of resolve laced through her words – a hint of the darkness the Exodus crew carried.</p><p>“You need to <em>step back</em>,” Eliza hissed, moving to step around her. </p><p>Freyer’s hand caught her in the center of her chest. “I will not.”</p><p>“Alexandra is <em>my daughter</em>.”</p><p>“I’m aware,” the way she said it had Lucy adding an unspoken <em>‘unfortunately’.</em> “But you do not make these decisions for her.”</p><p>“Like hell I do.”</p><p>“I’m Alex’s medical proxy,” Lucy cut in, aware of how no one turned to look at her. The staring match between surrogate and biological mother consuming the rooms attention. “What me and Maggie says, goes.”</p><p>“Get out of my way,” each of Eliza’s words was punctuated, separate. Each designed to intimidate the literal alien standing before her. And Freyer responded with calm in equal measures to Eliza’s fury.</p><p>“You’re misguided belief that you know best for your daughter – better than the rest of us – only further illustrates how truly lost you have become. How little you understand of your child and the life she’s built. We are her family also.”</p><p>“Alexandra is my daughter,” snarled, as if that was what was up for debate here. As if everyone in the room wasn’t painfully aware of that disappointing fact. “She is my child and my responsibility, and I won’t let you or your group of… <em>pirates</em> take her away from me. Alexandra-“</p><p>“Alexandra-“</p><p>“Stop calling her that!” Ky’s voice exploded onto the scene. Demanding. Laced with a kind of abject anguish that few could relate to.</p><p>Lucy heart clenched at the tone, at the look on her kids face. She reached out, fingers grazing her bicep. “Ky-“</p><p>“No!” Her eyes blazed red – emotion getting the best of her, though she didn’t pull away from the touch. Kara and Lucy both stepped a half inch closer. “It makes her uncomfortable! Ma… she hates when she calls her that.” Red eyes locked with Lucy’s, desperate frustration swimming in her expression. At the look in her parent’s eyes, she lost the fire, anger draining away to reveal fear – etched into her every inch. “She shouldn’t get to do that. I… I won’t let her do that anymore.”</p><p>“Okay,” Lucy nodded, wrapping her hand more fully around the child’s arm and pulling. Tugging until she was pressed against her chest, forehead notched into her neck as she ran a hand down her spine, feeling the trembling grow as energy escaped her form. “Okay, I know. I know.”</p><p>Alex’s breathing stuttered audibly. The machines started to beep frantically. </p><p>Dryl looked over at Lucy with wild eyes. Spluttered in blood and barely breathing himself, he looked like the last person she wanted injecting her partner with unknown substances.</p><p>“Lucy,” Freyer’s voice cut through the panic – calm as she locked eyes on her.</p><p>Someone banged on the outside of the door – the distinctive sound of typing in an access code.</p><p>Alex’s back ached violently off the bed – breathing all but stopped.</p><p>“Luce,” Kara, wide terrified eyes shifting between her and her sister. Ky pulled out of her arms to press her hands against the mattress where her mother was actively dying. </p><p>She set hard eyes on Dryl; his fingers still locked around the syringe. “Do it.”</p><p>“No-“ Freyer forced herself between Eliza and the bed.</p><p>Kara’s arm wrapped around Ky’s waist as she dragged her away from the seizing Alex.</p><p>Dryl jammed the needle directly into her chest. Pressing down the plunger with dramatics that should be reserved for television.</p><p>Alex’s back remained arched for an endless, suspended moment.</p><p>Kara with her arms wrapped around her crying niece, eyes just as wet and panicked.</p><p>Freyer still in front of Eliza, staring her down with uncharacteristically hard eyes. Eliza still trying to get around the alien, unbothered by the hand firmly pressed into her chest – desperation in her eyes.</p><p>Dryl slumped against the wall of machines, hunching over with hands pressed to knee’s as he wheezed in gasped breaths.</p><p>The door opened, but no one the room turned to see who was there.</p><p>Lucy took one, hesitant, desperate step towards her partner as her back lost its rigidity. Slumping back against the bedsheets with a rattling thud. Carefully, slowly, Lucy touched her palm to Alex’s face – just as she’d always do to wake her on rare occasions the Captain napped on the couch – feeling the clammy dampness.</p><p>Feeling the unnatural stillness.</p><p>Then Alex took one, loud, <em>gloriously</em> <em>fucking clear</em>, breath.</p><p>[…]</p><p>Lena woke with a start, jerking her chin up from her chest and blinking. She’d not meant to doze off, but after hours of sequencing the virus to neutralize its effects, she was exhausted. Not to mention the emotional tole of the afternoon.</p><p>But Alex was breathing – unconscious and recovering – but breathing. Full, complete breaths.</p><p>A miracle according to Hamilton.</p><p>Science according to Lena.</p><p><em>Dryl</em> according to Ella.</p><p>And now, Dryl was awake.</p><p>“Dr. Luthor,” he blinked, dark eyes sticky from hours of unconsciousness. “What happened?”</p><p>“You collapsed,” she explained, standing up from her hospital chair. It was a travesty really – surely the DEO could afford something even slightly more comfortable. “You’ve been asleep almost eight hours.”</p><p>He frowned, looking around the room. “But I am well, aside from that?”</p><p>“Aside from the fact that you <em>nearly died</em>, yes. You’re well.” She replied with a smirk, aware that he wouldn’t pick up on the sarcasm.</p><p>“Then the Haesd worked,” he didn’t appear to be talking to her, eyes locked on his hands as he carefully tested his finger’s movement.</p><p>Lena stared down at him a moment, the man who’d been working under her for almost two years and considered what she knew about him. “What were the chances that curing Alex would cure you?”</p><p>He looks up at her with clear eyes, answering like he would any other scientific problem. “Approximately 48%.”</p><p>“So, it was against the odds.”</p><p>He nodded once. “Correct.”</p><p>“And the chances of the <em>Haesd</em> curing you?” Tilting her head, she watched as the direction of this question went right over the alien’s head. </p><p>“As close to a statistical certainty as possible.”</p><p>A beat, Lena scrutinizing the man carefully. Unpicking everything she knew about him over the course of minutes. “Then why do it?”</p><p>“She would have died without the Haesd.” Simple. Unemotional. </p><p>But Lena’s mind made the obvious conclusion. “So, you chose Alex’s life over your own survival.” Not a question. Her smile gentled. “Your people would be so disappointed.”</p><p>“That is, perhaps, the best compliment you could have given me, Dr. Luthor.”</p><p>“Is that why you did it? Another rebellion against your species?”</p><p>“No. I did it because that is what Alex Danvers would have done,” he paused. Actually, seemed to consider what to say next – the first time Lena had seen him do anything other than robotically respond to the circumstances. It made her lean closer, eyes meeting his sudden intensity. “And, perhaps, that is the best guiding post for behavior available.”</p><p>“You know,” the corner of her lip turned up, eyes softening at the strange alien man. “I’m inclined to agree with that assessment.”</p><p>“I think,” he <em>hesitated</em>, eyes loosing contact with hers. “I think Alex Danvers may be my friend.”</p><p>Eyes scanning for the call button to get him checked out, Lena absently patted the side of his bed. “For perhaps the first time in your life Dryl, you’re mistaken,” a beat. A smile. “You’re absolutely her family.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alex woke with the weight of an anvil on her chest. Breathing was like pulling oxygen in through a straw, explaining the oxygen mask strapped to her face. Everything, literally <em>everything</em>, ached like she’d been in an end of season battle.</p><p>But she could hear the beep of medical tech and feel the scratchy covers of hospital bays. Something had happened, something probably not great. So, she forced her eyes open, blinking away the glue was that trying to hold them together.</p><p>“Danvers?” The voice was whispered, cautious. Soft fingers curled around her palm, gently squeezing. “You awake?”</p><p>Pulling in strained breath she tipped her head to the side, following the sound of her partner’s voice. Following the feeling of laced fingers warming her clammy hands.</p><p>She was rewarded handsomely for her effort.</p><p>All these years later, she still thought Maggie Sawyer was one of the most beautiful sights in the world. And waking up to her, no matter her state, always made everything just a little bit easier. What she <em>didn’t</em> like was the moment Maggie saw her other arm twitch she reached over to still her bicep. Not forcefully – just gentle fingers pressing into her skin. Holding her still. “We removed your arm, Danvers. So, don’t even try sit up.”</p><p>If she had the energy, she would have grinned at the command, and probably ignored it. But right now, there was no realm of reality where she could push against Maggie’s barely-there hold. So, instead, she tipped her chin as best she could, communicating with a darting blurry eye. A silent request that was understood if Maggie’s teeth catching her lip was anything to go by.</p><p>Concern settling over Maggie’s face, she nodded, free hand leaving her amputated arm to touch the corner of her cheek. “Okay, but just for a minute. The doc said your lungs were gonna be fine, but the strain was extensive. You need rest.”</p><p>Swallowing, Alex closed her eyes in a pseudo nod, lips curling at the edges as Maggie gently pulled the mask away from her. “Hey,” her voice was a whispered rasp, but the dimples that popped soothed the burn in her throat.</p><p>“Hey back,” her free hand didn’t go far, leaving the mask to hand and returning to her cheek. Her thumb stroked with gentleness reserved for her girls. All four of them. “Gave us a scare this time.”</p><p>“Sorry.”</p><p>A breathed laugh, Maggie’s eyes closing briefly. When they opened, the edges were shining, and Alex’s fingers still tangled with Maggie’s twitched to comfort. “Don’t apologize for getting attacked, Danvers. We’re just happy you’re gonna be okay.”</p><p>Swallowing razors, Alex refused to wince. Refused to show how painful speaking was. Maggie’s eyes narrowing at the corners indicated she was doing a poor job at hiding the hurt, but she pushed on. Desperate for information, an explanation. “What happened?”</p><p>A thumb dragging along her cheek, tender, concerned, was an answer in and of itself. “Cadmus poisoned the aliens at the bar-“ her eyes widened, fingers tightening around Maggie’s painfully hard. But before Alex could interrupt, before she could try and stand, Maggie was pushing on – reassuring with her eyes and words as quickly as she could manage. “Zeek’s okay – Little Luthor signed off on him and he was released from containment a couple of hours ago. Dryl seemed to get sick because you were sick – but his symptoms cleared up along with yours. Some kind of echo, I think? He didn’t explain it in a way that normal people could understand.”</p><p>“They’re okay?”</p><p>“Everyone is okay,” but Maggie’s eyes were wet. Wet and locked on Alex like she might disappear. Like she might evaporate before her very eyes. (Like the image of her in this very bed, back bowed, chest still, before Dryl plunged a syringe into her heart wasn’t etched into her mind forever). “Kara took Ky home to get a change of clothes and to give KD a breather. Lucy literally just stepped out to deal with the neutralizing agent your mom and Luthor cooked up. She’ll be back any minute.”</p><p>Her breathing was becoming audible again, the weight sinking hard against her sternum, but there was no leaving <em>that</em> information alone. “My mom?”</p><p>“Yeah, Eliza came in to help,” she tucked some hair behind her ear, eyes tracing the too-pronounced cheekbones. “Some fireworks, but everything worked out.” A particularly strained breath had sharp eyes focusing. Had Maggie’s demeanor shifting. “Alright – come on, let’s get you some air, yeah?” But just as she was about to pull the mask back on, Alex forced her unoccupied arm up. Moving the stump felt like dragging it through liquid air, but she managed to press it against the underside of Maggie’s wrist. Stilling her movement. Drawing serious, concerned eyes to her.</p><p>“You?” Rasped.</p><p>Maggie’s eyebrows furrowed, concern making her fingers itch, her mind moving slow. “Me?”</p><p>“You,” a breath, “okay?”</p><p>“I’m fine, Danvers,” she tried, unwilling to push against Alex’s arm, particularly the vulnerable sensitive end of her stump. Particularly when Alex rarely instigated contact with that portion of her body – especially in public. “Babe, come on, let me-“</p><p>“No,” it shouldn’t be surprising after all this time, that even on her almost-death-bed Captain-badass-and-fucking-stubborn-Danvers could put up a fight. But Maggie still found herself blinking. “My mom… and you.”</p><p>Frowning, she tried to quell the swelling anxiety as Alex’s breathing grew more labored. “Your mom and I get on fine. This is a Lucy question, babe.”</p><p>A harsh inhale had Maggie wincing. Had her fingers twitching. But then Alex’s lips were working again, stilling her hand. “Are you,” a shudder, “okay?”</p><p>“Alex I-“</p><p>“What the fuck?” Maggie’s head jerked up, eyes widening at the sight of Lucy Lane in all her glory standing at the entrance to the med-bay. Eyes narrow and set on their sick girlfriend before striding in with all the purpose in the world. “You,” she pointed a finger at Maggie. “Sit the fuck down, you’ve been on your feet for 24 hours straight. And you,” her fingers dragged the mask back over Alex’s nose, serious, angry, relieved eyes locked on hers. “Almost died, so keep the fucking lifesaving oxygen provider on, you absolute asshole.”</p><p>Even from behind the plastic, Alex smiled. Easing back into the bed and nodding – exhaustion crawling into the edges of her person. Now, with their third present, able to leave matters alone. At least for now.</p><p>“Everything go okay with the dispersal?”</p><p>“Of course,” a crisp nod, anxious fingers flitting around the edges of the bed. Grazing the side of the amputated arm that was returned to the bed, lingering on the underside of her elbow gently. “Lena and J’onn are taking over now. The gas will be ineffective by morning. And what did I say about sitting?”</p><p>Smiling around her eyeroll, Maggie pointedly sat in her previously occupied chair, still pulled up tight against the bed where she’d been sitting guard.</p><p>With all the energy left in her, Alex pressed the side of her arm against Lucy’s hands, pulling her head around to look up at her partner – anxious eyes and all. Even knowing her voice would be horribly muffled, she forced the words from her aching throat. “My mom?”</p><p>“She’s still upstairs,” Lucy’s eyes dragged away, fingers jumping along the sheets as she tucked Alex in more securely. “She booked a hotel for the night. She wants to see you before she goes.”</p><p>Maggie leaned forward in her chair, eyeing her girlfriend over their girlfriend’s form, eyebrows knitting at the antsy energy rolling off her. “You okay, Luce?”</p><p>“Yeah,” a shrug, cheek ticking. “She’s just…” a deep breath. And like it had never been there, the tension evaporated. Eyes clearing, back straightening. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. She helped us protect National City – that’s what matters.”</p><p>A beat.</p><p>“Lucy…” Maggie’s tone matched Alex’s knitted eyebrows, but neither pushed.</p><p>“It is what it is guys,” she smiled, lip tugging. “And I’m not the only one punished by the situation.” At Maggie’s confused look, Lucy reached over Alex, touching her fingers to the hand still wrapped around Alex’s, eyes softening as she locked with brown. “I may not get along with Eliza, but no one expects me to. <em>You’re </em>the one that has to bite their tongue and play peacemaker, Mags.”</p><p>“It’s fine.” Out of her mouth so quick that Lucy rolled her eyes and Alex’s fingers squeezed. The urge to remove her mask and ease the uncomfortable tension gathering in Maggie’s shoulders only quilled by the sheer impossibility of Lucy allowing her to remove her mask again.</p><p>The sheer exhaustion flooding her mind didn’t help either. But that was neither here nor there.</p><p>“It’s decidedly <em>not</em> fine, and tomorrow, when this one,” she tipped her head towards Alex. “Is back home and resting in our bed where she belongs, you are going to be given exactly as much room as you need to vent about how shitty your position was the last few days.” Maggie opened her mouth – some kind of half-baked protest on the tip of her tongue – but Alex’s waning strength behind another squeezed caught the words in her throat. Had her glancing between her partners, equally stubborn looks in either of their eyes.</p><p>“Fine,” resignation curled on her lips, an eyeroll easing some of the tension in Lucy’s shoulders. “We can have a deeply annoying conversation about feelings. Tomorrow. Because Alex is about to fall asleep and Ky is going to be back any minute.”</p><p>“Sounds like a plan, Dimples,” Lucy murmured, eyes dragged towards the sinking Alex. Fingers curling in the edges of her hair as she eyes finally started to droop. “And you, sleep. We’ll be here when you wake up.”</p><p>“Promise?” Muffled by the mask and sleep. But just enough that her partners softened, Lucy’s fingers scratching at her skull while Maggie smiled, head tilting just a touch.</p><p>“Yeah Danvers,” Maggie started softly, releasing her hand only to drag soothing fingers along her exposed palm. “We promise.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And that is the end of that! Which brings me to three completed fics in this never ending series. Let me know what you think!</p><p>Also, because I like to have two projects going at the same time so I can switch it up, wondering whether you guys have any preferences or prompts for another smaller piece? I was thinking a time-traveling Ky (i.e. her at like 21, thrown back into pre-exodus National city) but wanted to just open the floor to you folks. Even one-shot prompts or Darla Retention Log ideas would be cool!</p><p>Is it weird that I'm a little sad this one's over? You guys got so into this little almost nothing series and I never expected it! Thank you so much :D</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Bonus Chapter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, because a couple of people wanted an Eliza resolution, I typed this up... and it didn't turn into a resolution so much as a cathartic <em>I choose my family</em> moment for Alex. Still mostly fits into the AU and the timeline of Blood and Water though, so figured there was no harm in adding it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>FOUR DAYS LATER</strong>
</p><p>“Hey!” Alex froze, arms bracing her torso, one foot pressed into the carpet, and the other still resting on the couch. She didn’t even turn to look at the voice’s owner, body rigid. As if Lucy Lane was some kind of predator that could only see her if she moved.</p><p>Which, right now, she kinda was.</p><p>“What in the <em>hell</em> do you think you’re doing?”</p><p><em>Now</em>, Alex looked up, sheepish and smiling as if that would soften her girlfriend’s arched eyebrows and crossed arms. Swallowing, she tried for apologetic as she answered. “Standing up?”</p><p>“And why would you be doing a fucking stupid thing like that?”</p><p>“Um,” she blinked, looking around for support and finding none. Gertrude was laid out in front of the TV, head resting on her paws, didn’t even open her eyes. And Maggie was still busy in the kitchen, she could hear the tinkering but couldn’t see the woman over the back of the couch. “I’m bored?”</p><p>“Good. Bored is better than breathing impaired so lay the fuck down before I handcuff you there.”</p><p>Smirking, just because, Alex tilted her head. “And that would be a bad thing because…?”</p><p>“You aren’t even cleared to walk to the bathroom on your own, let alone anything more fun,” Taking a step forward, she waved a hand at the leg still on the ground, forcing the Agent to put it back on the couch and lean back. At least Lucy didn’t force her completely flat, allowing her to press against the arm of the sofa. “Thus, your best-case scenario is being left hot and bothered. The worst, Kara decides to stop by for a third time today just to check on you.”</p><p>Huffing a sigh, she nodded, relaxing her weight as best she could against the cushions.</p><p>Frustration faded quickly into concern, Lucy nudging her legs to the side so she could perch next to her, resting a hand on Alex’s Henley covered stomach. “You sure you don’t want to be in bed?” </p><p>“Nah,” she smiled, tipping her head against the back of the couch, never taking her eyes off Lucy. “At least in here I get to… I don’t know. Exist in your space.”</p><p>“But you’re feeling okay?” anxious fingers curled into in stomach, bunching the fabric of her shirt. Lucy’s eyes narrowed in concern as they tracked the lingering paleness. Alex’s cheek bones were no longer pressed hard into the edges of her skin, and the deep bruises under her eyes had faded after her second 12-hour sleep in a row. But she still looked tired, drawn.</p><p>Like she’d almost died four days ago.</p><p>“Luce,” reaching over with her one available hand, she tucked some hair away from the director’s face, smiling when she relaxed under her touch. “Aside from the fact that I almost died, I’m good. Bored, but good.”</p><p>“I’m going to choose to believe you.”</p><p>That drew a laugh from her, thumb rubbing at the edge of her jaw before dropping back to Lucy’s legs. “You know, I <em>am</em> the doctor between the three of us.”</p><p>“You are also the biggest moron of the three of us,” the mild, matter of fact way Lucy said it had Alex chuckling, despite herself.</p><p>“Rude,” but her voice was too light to have any heat, any true protest. “Luce? I’m going to be okay.”</p><p>“I know,” but the way her eyes pinched had Alex squeezing her thigh, imparting whatever comfort she had. “I just wish you would stop almost dying on us.”</p><p>“I know. I’m sorry.”</p><p>“Don’t apologize,” the fingers curled into her shirt flexed, scratching at the sensitive skin of her stomach. “We just worry.”</p><p>“I know,” soft, whispered just between them. As close to an apology as Lucy would let her get.</p><p>The sound of Maggie padding towards them on the hard wood had Lucy looking over, smiling at their girlfriend. “That for me, Sawyer?”</p><p>“No one else drinks this concoction, Lane,” Alex could head Maggie’s smile in her voice, as she approached, suddenly appearing over the back of the couch. She handed the steaming mug over, careful and slow, aware of the already very fragile human laying between them. “And hot chocolate for the bed bound,” the mug was lowered, Maggie’s dimples popping the acknowledgement of Alex’s glare.</p><p>“Really?” She asked, still taking the beverage. “It’s 9am. 9am is solidly a caffeine time of the day.”</p><p>Maggie folded her arms over the back of the couch, tilting her head to the side as she grinned down at her partner. “Well, until you are cleared for anything stronger than liquorice tea, that’s not gonna happen Danvers.”</p><p>The nose wrinkle at the tea option had Lucy rolling her eyes, but decidedly staying where she was. “It’s <em>not that bad</em>.”</p><p>“I can smell it from here, and I assure you it <em>is that bad.</em>”</p><p>“You’re both uncultured swine,” she mumbled, sticking her nose right over the edge of her mug and inhaling, humming at the decidedly acquired taste.</p><p>The knock at the door drew the teasing to an end, Maggie ending the conversation with a laughed, <em>“whatever you say, Lane.”</em></p><p>“Ten bucks says it’s Kara,” Lucy grinned, resting the mug on the end of her knee as Maggie walked over.</p><p>Alex narrowed her eyes, nose crinkling. “She’d been here twice already. It’s barely morning.”</p><p>“One of those times was just to take Ky to school,” Lucy reasoned around her smile.</p><p>“And she came back afterwards because…?”</p><p>“She forgot her phone.”</p><p>“She used her phone to call you to ask if Ky could have donuts for breakfast!”</p><p>“No one said it was a <em>good</em> excuse.”</p><p>“Ah,” Lucy’s head snapped around towards Maggie, Alex’s spine straightening. Even the single syllable contained enough discomfort for it to swamp the room. “It’s Eliza?”</p><p>Which, of course it was.</p><p>Suddenly, Alex <em>wished</em> for Kara and her brilliant ability to buffer her and her mother. A talent acquired since she came out of the polyamorous closet and honed after her return from the Exodus.</p><p>Lucy’s muttered, “shit,” was certainly a shared feeling.</p><p>“Should I…?” Maggie seemed as unsure as to the answer to that question as everyone else, but there really was no avoiding the inevitable. Eliza was like a frate train – she unstoppably crashed through their lives, completely unaware of the utter destruction she created.</p><p>“Let her in,” Lucy finally answered, the long pause between knocking and answering probably not helping matters. But then she was turning to Alex, ducking her head and resting a hand on her leg. “Do you want me to make myself scarce?”</p><p>“No,” no <em>fucking</em> way. “Not unless you want to,” because as much as Alex wanted the support, she recognized that Lucy had more than a right to take a long walk or disappear into the study for however long this disaster continued.</p><p>But she was shaking her head, reaching over to place her mug on the table. “I’ll stay.”</p><p>Whether that was solely because Lucy wanted to support her after the near-death thing, or in the context of Maggie venting for a solid hour about having to maintain the tenuous relationship with the mother-in-law, Alex wasn’t sure. But whatever it was, she was relieved enough that her spine lost its uncomfortable rigidity before Eliza appeared at the end of the couch, by her feet. Maggie was a step behind her, arms crossed, eyes narrowed. </p><p><em>“Alexandra,”</em> she managed, just by the skin of her teeth, to not flinch at the name, and instead offer the tightest of smiles. Only tightening when Lucy, smoothly stood, fingers grazing her arm as she walked over to the other couch. Alex’s only real relief was when she nodded her head after her girlfriend, Gertrude automatically followed the silent command. “You look terrible, sweetie.”</p><p>Which <em>duh</em>. Her life was saved with literal seconds to spare last week. But she didn’t say that. Instead, she smiled, tight and controlled, and nodded. “I’d give you a hug, but…” she waved at her horizontal position, hoping that would be enough to assuage the socially mandated physical contact<em>.</em></p><p>“No, no, of course,” Eliza waved her hand in dismissal, rounding the couch to sit where Lucy had just been, hand patting at her leg in sympathy.</p><p>“I didn’t know you would be stopping by again,” she tried to keep her voice casual. The first visit the day before last had been enough, even with Kara there to buffer while Lucy and Maggie ran errands.</p><p>“Oh, my flights in a couple of hours,” she smiled, that smile that made Alex feel inexplicably guilty. Had her whole life. The smile associated with Alex taking up more emotional room than she was allotted. “Thought I’d check on you one last time before I left. We both know how bad a patient you are.”</p><p>In the corner of her eyes, she could see Maggie grow more tense. Jaw hardening as she continued to stare into the back of her mother’s skull.</p><p>“Right,” she flexed her hand around the mug, letting the heat seep into her skin. Her other arm twitched, as if to share in the comforting warmth she was letting ground her. But the pain that sparked up her arm and into her neck reminded her that there was no bionic attached – removed by Maggie hours earlier when the extra weight started to give her trouble.</p><p>But the movement drew her mother’s eyes to the stump like a laser sending her heart into overdrive.</p><p>“Your arm…” because yes. She’d told her mom about the amputation – over the phone, months after the dramatic dinner which ended in door slamming and radio silence. But there was a difference. A chasm between seeing and understanding. </p><p>“Yeah,” fighting the instinct to hide the disability, she lifted it more onto her lap, trying to ignore how Maggie shifted. “Um, yeah.”</p><p>“You normally wear a prosthetic?” Again, duh, but she nodded. Her mom still hadn’t taken her eyes off the injury sight, seeming to trace the length of the main scar over and over and... “An advanced one if the extent of the movement was anything to go by.”</p><p>Alex cleared her throat, working hard to keep her voice steady even as the tension in the room notched up. She couldn’t even <em>see</em> Lucy and she knew that the woman was holding on to the edges of her reaction out of pure force of will. “Yeah. Dryl. He… he built the bionic and the tech that’s embedded in my upper arm. It gives me complete range of movement.”</p><p>“He <em>embedded</em> technology in your arm?”</p><p>“Yeah,” pressing her tongue to the back of her teeth, she allowed the mesh and wiring work in her shoulder, and bicep to fade into view. Blue and silver and foreign – her mother’s eyes hardened. “He, ah. He’s from a planet called Tormock. Basically, a bio-mechanically advanced race. That’s how he could splice his DNA with mine. That’s why I have complex movement in my prosthetic and still have use of my upper arm.”</p><p>“Right,” her voice chilled. Clipped. Maggie’s eyes narrowed and tension crowded Alex’s chest. “And that’s why you became so ill.”</p><p>“I mean,” she shrugged, shifting further up the couch so she was sitting more upright. The words burned in her mouth even as she said it, but something about her mother always compelled her to play peacemaker. Bend. “Medusa made me ill, but I suppose the fact that Dryl used his DNA to save me played a loose role?”</p><p>Eliza’s lip curled and Alex’s stomach curdled, heart thudding into her throat. “He’s the reason you almost <em>lost your life</em>,” a harsh inhale, hissing through her teeth. She still hadn’t looked away from the mechanics built into her skin. “Without him… without those… those <em>people</em>,” somehow, she made ‘people’ sound like ‘aliens’. “You wouldn’t have spent 48 hours fighting for your life. You wouldn’t have been subjected to that <em>treatment</em> during the invasion. If he hadn’t <em>meddled</em> with your gene’s you’d be <em>safe</em>.”</p><p>A beat where Alex just watched her mother. A beat where she finally <em>saw </em>her mother.</p><p>Something… shifted in her chest. Clicked into place.</p><p>All at once the turbulence and anxiety and hurt evaporated. Instead, the cavity around her heart filled with cement, every crack and crevice filled with hard, cold liquid. With calm that made Maggie shift her weight, she leaned over and placed her mug on the coffee table, not even sparing Lucy a glance out of the corner of her eye, Gertrude curled against her side protectively.</p><p>Turning back, Alex sat up properly, leaning forward a touch so she could dig her elbows into her upper thighs and look her mother dead in the eye. She held that contact, stared into the outraged, determined, protective blue and breathed one final breath.</p><p>“Mom, I’m going to say something, and I need you to try and hear me,” the words were even. Controlled. Something out of Captain Danvers – not Alex, sitting on her couch in her Lucy’s too big sweatpants and a shirt that still smelled like Maggie. “The only reason I am alive right now, is because of Dryl,” Eliza opened her mouth, but Alex didn’t pause. “And not just because of what happened last week. Dyl and <em>those people?”</em> she waited; jaw impossibly harder than her mother’s. “They are the reason <em>your daughter</em> is breathing today. They saved more than just my life every single day on that ship. They saved my <em>soul</em>. They protected my <em>daughter</em>. They are the reason I am still here today.”</p><p>A pause, where she took another controlled breath, feeling cold and measured, even as she acknowledged what her next words would do. “And if you ever so much as insinuate that they are anything but the brave, loyal, <em>incredible</em> people they are? You will be creating an ultimatum; you or them. And mom, I need you to hear me when I say this,” her eyes steeled. Alex could see when her expression slammed into her mother, the way her righteous indignation faltered. “I will not choose you.”</p><p>The silence that followed swallowed the entire room. It was like a black hole opened up between them, consuming everything but the weight of those words.</p><p>Alex felt like she was drowning in the air. Conviction kept her upright, kept her spine straight and her eyes calm. But she knew her mother. Knew what she was going to say before she opened her mouth. Or, at least, knew the jist.</p><p>“You,” a swallow, voice audibly shaking. “You’ve changed,” another breath, her mother’s eyes filling with agony. “Space <em>changed</em> you.”</p><p>And all she could offer in response was a small nod, lips pursing as she inhaled through her nose and finally answered. “Yeah, mom. It did.”</p><p>Her mother barely managed to articulate an excuse before she was letting herself out of the apartment.</p><p>The door barely clicked shut as her breathing stuttered out of her chest, head ducking to stare hard at her lap. The visual of the abrupt end to her left arm burned into her mind. </p><p>“Danvers?” Maggie didn’t replace her mother in the seat. Instead, she tapped her shins, encouraging her to fold them into a cross-legged position, mirroring her on the other end of the couch. Gentle fingers curled around her elbow, where her bionics’ sleeve normally sat. “You okay?”</p><p>A slow inhale, Alex closing her eyes as she tried to control the swirling just below her throat – emotion clamoring around her heart.</p><p>“Al,” Lucy, couching at her side. Soft fingers tucked hair behind her ear, revealing the side of her face as she remained bent forward. “What do you need?”</p><p>“Just,” a swallow, another breath. Jaw ticking as she tried to focus on her partners comforting presence. On Gertrude muzzle digging into her thigh. “Exist in my space?”</p><p>“You got it,” accompanied by a squeeze, Maggie sharing some strength through their very skin.</p><p>“And I’m…” she looked up, eyes drifting to the door her mother had escaped through. “I’m sorry about… all of this.”</p><p>“Hey, no,” Maggie’s fingers under her chin drew her back to serious eyes. “None of that. You don’t choose your parents.”</p><p>“And we’re proud of you,” Lucy’s voice was this side of rough, like emotion had found refuge in her throat. “For speaking your mind. We know how hard that is with you and Eliza.”</p><p>“I just,” she rubbed her hand over her eyes, hard, palm digging into her good eye. “We literally <em>just</em> finished talking about you guys and my mother and the horrible position her presence puts you guys in and I-“</p><p>“Danvers?” Maggie’s voice was solid enough to stamp out an anxious ramble before it got rolling. “My playing peacemaker to your mother is not something <em>you</em> should be apologizing for. It’s not your fault, and it’s just… the way things are. I’m a big girl – I can tell you if I need to tap out. Just like Lane would have left if she needed to.”</p><p>“Alex, we aren’t here to make you choose between your families,” Lucy pressed a hand into the small of Alex’s back, scratching gently. “And, as much as possible, we’ll support you when your mother crash lands into your life and tries to spout utter nonsense.”</p><p>Alex’s laugh was breathed, wasn’t quite there. But it released the sharpest edges of the tension. Made it possible for everyone to breathe a little easier. “I just… thank you. For not <em>asking</em> me to choose,” a beat, where she glanced between both of them. Settled into the couch further at the love and affection she found there. Thought about the difference between the people who ask you to make a choice, and those who let you come to a decision on your own. “But I meant what I said. I do get to choose my family. And," a smile, soft and affection and filled with adoration for these wounded humans. "I choose <em>you</em>.”</p><p>Maggie's dimples popped even as she tried for quippy. “Going soft on us, Danvers?”</p><p>“She was already soft on us, Sawyer.” </p><p>And Alex didn't even bother trying to argue. Lucy was right, after all. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And <em>now</em> its over! Hope you folks enjoyed!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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